So You Think You Can Dance Cullen?
by darkroselight
Summary: Bella is a young dancer living in Phoenix and a hopeful contestant on the next season of "So You Think You Can Dance" where she meets none other than Edward Cullen. Full summary inside. Normal pairings, All Human. E/B, A/J, R/Em
1. The music Calls

In this story Bella's not quite as gravitationally challenged as she was in the Twilight books. In this all human story Bella is a dancer and a hopeful contestant on the next season of "So You Think You Can Dance" where she meets some interesting other dance lovers including one Edward Cullen. Will sparks fly? Or will competition, family, and the other dancers keep them apart?

I have never personally auditioned for "SYTYCD" so I don't know how the whole thing works. I'm making it up based off things I've seen on TV and can research on the internet. I will try to stay as close as I can to the real show but, bear with me if some of the filler information is alittle off.

This chapter was writen to "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West. I recomend listening to it while you read. Every chapter will have a song to it. Generaly that song will be the one that Bella or Edward dances to.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or anything that has to do with "So You Think You Can Dance" if I did I wouldn't be here writing about it. I also dont own or know any of the choreographers or judges from the show so if they appear in this story it is without their knowledge. This disclaimer goes for the whole story so I'm not putting it in every chapter.

Chapter One- The music calls

* * *

POV- Bella

"Oh Bella! Can you believe we're actually here?"

Summer was jumping up and down by my side as we stopped in front of the Phoenix Convention Center. It was one of the largest public buildings in Phoenix, and today it was hosting auditions for the fifth season of So You Think You Can Dance.

Summer wasn't bothered by the fact that I was too distracted staring at the building to respond to her. She was dancing in spot with a big smile on her face.

"Come on Bella! We need to get in line for our numbers. I can't believe we're really doing this. Do you really think we have a chance? This is going to be so much fun. Let's go!"

Summer grabbed my arm and pulled me forward into the lobby. There were people everywhere: Crowded in the lobby, sitting on the floor by the doors, and lined up down the block. As far as the eye could see hopeful dancers were waiting for their chance to win a ticket to Las Vegas and a shot of making to into the top twenty. The grand prize this year was a cash prize of $200,000 and a new car along with, of course, the title of "America's favorite dancer".

Summer grabbed my shoulder and shook me trying to get my attention. She hadn't stopped talking since we walked in the door and she had finally noticed I wasn't listening.

"Hello Bella are you in there?"

I pulled my eyes away from the hoards of dancers and looked over at my best friend. The realization of what we were doing was finally setting in. We were really here. We were going to audition for the show! "Summer this is so exciting!" I couldn't stop the burst of excitement and soon we were both "happy dancing" in the lobby.

Summer pulled me into a hug and we jumped up and down some more, ignoring the odd looks we were getting. "Come on, registrations are over here."

We fought our way though the dancers who already had numbers pinned to their shirts. Dancers of every shape and size were here. I recognized a few girls from school and saw even more people that I didn't know. Two boys sitting in the lobby were dressed in neon green jump suits and a girl whose dress was more feather than fabric was warming up just outside the door with some of her friends.

Eventually, we found a long white table where crew workers were taking names and passing out numbers. A man standing behind the table came over and asked us for our names.

Summer jumped forward, her hundred watt smile blazing. "I'm Summer Roads and this is Isabella Swan."

"Just Bella." I mumbled instinctively under my breath. Isabella was so long and formal. I preferred it when people just called me Bella and it was second nature to correct anyone who used Isabella.

The man smiled back at us and passed us two small sheets of paper. "Please fill out these sheets quick and I can give you your numbers."

The sheet was small. Name, phone number, what song you would be dancing to and what your leading style was. We also had to sign a legal waiver stating that it was okay if our auditions were filmed so they could use them on the show if the producers wanted.

We filled out the sheets and were handed our numbers. I felt my face fall momentarily when I learned we were numbers 807 and 808 but it was impossible to stay down when Summer was at my side practically vibrating with joy.

"Good luck ladies. The judges are feeling hopeful about this first round of auditions."

"Thanks but we won't need it." Summer said confidently

"Don't mess with karma, Summer." I nodded to the worker and thanked him for his help. We waved goodbye and moved out of the way for the next person to sign up.

"Let's go stand outside Bella."

I had hardly pinned the number to the front of my shirt when Summer grabbed me again and we were back outside standing with hundreds of other dancers all waiting for their turn to audition in front of the judges.

We walked down the block a short way where some of the dancers had set up a monster stereo and were dancing in the parking lot to pass the time. I suppose when you grouped hundreds of people who loved to dance together it was inevitable that they would start dancing in the street.

"Bella look there's a camera crew over there."

Summer pointed down the street where a crew of people in blue were walking with a reporter from the show. Summer lifted her chin and looked like she was contemplating chasing the camera down and demanding her five minutes of fame. Lucky for me the song playing on the stereo changed and she was distracted. I was fine with judges and strangers watching me but I wasn't so sure about cameras. Especially since my dad, Charlie didn't exactly know where I was right now.

He had always been fairly supportive of my love for dancing. He just wasn't sure it was the best way to make a living. If I made it on the show that would all change. I was going to be a dancer and getting on the show would be my chance at a big break. I was going to prove to the world that this was where I belonged.

"I love this song!" Summer said as she turned to look over at the dancers in the parking lot. "Come on Bella let's ask if we can dance with them."

The stereo was hooked up to someone's car and a group had formed around the people dancing in the middle. Everyone trying to either show off in front of the others or get a feel for their competition. We shoved our way to the center and found two boys dancing hip-hop in the center.

I felt the beat of the song set in as it pulsed around the group and my foot tapped of its own accord. Hip-hop was one of my favorite styles, even though I had no real training in it, and I loved Kanye West. His song "Love Lockdown" was currently playing and I could tell the music was starting to take over. I had always found it hard to stand still when there was good music playing--part of the reason I had taken dance lessons to begin with.

Summer waved to another boy sitting by the stereo. "Hey! Can anyone dance here? Or is this a private party?"

I didn't wait for his response. I shrugged off the button down shirt I was wearing over my t-shirt and jumped right in-between the two boys dancing. I had on my favorite pair of worn out sneakers and my lucky coin was on a chain around my neck. It was definitely dance time.

My sudden addition to the numbers threw off the guys dancing but they quickly recovered adding my choreography to the mix. The crowd cheered and a few more people joined us as everyone danced to the music. I hadn't heard the boy with the stereo respond but I was willing to bet he didn't mind us joining in.

"Hey, what's your name?" One of the boys who had originally been dancing grabbed my hand and spun me closer to him so we could dance.

He spun me forward and I twisted back into his chest so he could hear me over the other dancers. "It's Bella."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Erik."

Erik had dark black hair just long enough to hang in his eyes and there was an Asian tone to his smooth skin. He had bright, dark eyes and his pants were a size too big as they hung low on his hips. The music swelled around us and we dropped with the bass as the chorus started again.

"You're good." He called over the music as we spun in sync and swapped places.

I nodded. "You too."

Summer joined the growing group of dancers and she made her way over to where Erik and I were still dancing. "Bella look, that camera crew is coming over here."

Erik and I followed her finger as she pointed out the reporter and her crew in blue with the camera. Summer was all smiles as they stopped and the reporter started talking into her microphone as the camera swept over the group of dancers. "They're talking to some of the dancers before they dance for the first show next week."

The music on the stereo shifted and now The Veronicas "I Can't Stay Away" rang through the stereo and more people jumped into our make shift dance floor to try and get on camera. I spun around and joined Summer. Our little dance circle was starting to feel more like a club's dance pit as more bodies pressed together.

Summer was more of a 'Contemporary meets Jazz dancer' whereas my style tended to lean towards 'Latin influenced by some Hip-Hop'. I could "drop" and "pop" with the best of them but I could also dance a mean Rumba.

Summer and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember. She was two inches taller than I was and had me by a cup size. Her positive attitude shone as bright as her white blond hair which fell in waves down her back and she knew how to handle a dance floor.

We danced for awhile as the stereo moved from song to song and eventually found ourselves sitting on the curb with Erik and his friend Sam. Sam was a head taller than the rest of us and his skin had a beautiful rusty brown tint to it and I was jealous of the color. I had lived in Arizona for most of my life but I always managed to keep my pale complexion no matter how much time I spent in the sun.

"Is this your first time auditioning for the show?" Summer asked as Sam passed around bottled water from a cooler in the back of his truck.

Erik nodded. "This is my first run but Sam tried last year."

Sam sat down on the curb by my side and nodded along. "Yep and I made it to Vegas too. I just didn't get into the top twenty."

"Maybe this will be your year." Summer said optimistically.

He shrugged and pulled his long black hair into a ponytail behind his head. "Maybe. Is this your first try?"

"Yep, Bells and I were going to try out last year but school got in the way."

"Are you majoring in dance?"

Summer shrugged and nodded. "Bella is, but I'm still not sure. I think I might like to be a dance teacher."

Sam nodded. "Good goal."

"What style are you going to use for your audition?" Erik asked as he blew his dark hair out of his eyes.

I beat Summer to answer his question. "Latin, I have a little Hip-Hop influenced Samba type piece ready."

Erik nodded. "I'm hip-hop all the way but I like a good Samba every once in a while." I had a strange feeling that Erik had never danced a Samba in his life but I smiled along and nodded. He glanced over at Summer. "What about you?"

"I'm going to do a Jazz number." Summer said tapping the toes of her dance shoes together. She glanced over at Sam. "You?"

He smirked. "Same type I did last year, Freestyle/Contemporary with some influence from my Native American roots."

"What number did you guys get?"

"309 and 310. We got here really early"

Summer stuck out her bottom lip and pouted at him. "Lucky, we're not till the eight hundreds."

"You'll have to come inside with us and wish us luck."

Summer was all smiles and she scooted closer to Sam's side. "Only if you wish us luck in return."

"Deal, but we probably can't stick around until your auditions. I have a class at 4:00."

We sat around outside and talked about our favorite dance styles and how long we had been dancing. It was almost noon when the first winner burst threw the front doors waving her ticket to Vegas and screaming. The blond girl was followed out by some of her friends and they jumped up and down screaming.

We quickly crossed the street and watched with the other dancers as the reporter and her cameras pulled the girl over for a quick word.

The girl waved to the camera and held out her ticket. "I'm going to Vegas Baby!" She jumped up and down with her friends again and it didn't look like the reporter was going to get much more from her.

"Think she's going to Vegas?" Erik asked sarcastically as the blond girl screamed again.

I shrugged and matched his joking tone. "I can't tell, maybe."

Sam glanced down at his watch. "We should head inside and check what number their on. I'm betting it's almost time for us to get in line."

Erik agreed and we trooped inside to wait in line. A half hour later we were sitting in the hall just a few people down from the judge's room. One after another dancers walked in with a smile and came out disappointed mumbling about how the judges had made a mistake.

"I'm getting nervous." Erik said as we stepped forward again and a girl with dark hair walked past us with her family. The latest victim of the judges wrath.

Sam nodded. "You should be. It's terrifying, but I think you'll do fine." Summer and I nodded along and scooted forward with our new friends as another girl exited the judge's room with no ticket.

Erik nodded along with us and I could see his confidence grow as he gave himself a little internal pep talk. "Let's do it."

We moved forward again and a girl standing outside the door took Sam and Erik's names. A tall boy with the number 308 pinned to his shirt came out empty handed and it was Sam's turn. We all wished him luck and he entered the judge's room. The room was sound proof so we couldn't hear when his music started, so we waited as the time moved painfully slow.

"It's been ten minutes. Where is he?" Erik complained as he paced past the doors for the hundredth time.

"Take a deep breath." Summer suggested.

"He'll be out soon." I offered trying to ease his stress.

Erik nodded and took a deep breath. He spun around to pace past the doors again and almost got hit in the face when they blew open. Sam leapt out of the doors waving a sheet of paper in the air.

"I'm going to Vegas!"

I sprang to my feet with Summer and we all clapped and cheered as Sam did a little dance in the hall. The woman by the door glanced down at her chart then looked over at us. "Is one of you Erik Yorkie?"

Erik jumped and then froze in his spot. Deer trapped in the headlights staring his impending doom right in the face. Sam clapped him on the back and shoved him forward. "That's him. Go get 'em Erik."

Erik hesitated in the doorway then took a deep breath and disappeared into the judges lair. Summer spun around and turned on Sam.

"Let's see it. Show us the ticket!"

Sam held out the sheet confirming his spot in the next round and the plane ticket to Vegas set to take off exactly three weeks from today. I took a deep breath and handed Sam his ticket back. Soon enough I would have my own. I'd been dancing since I was three and nothing was going to keep me from this competition.

Summer, Sam and I took seats on the floor across the hall from the judge's room. Sam had refused to tell us anything about what it was like on the other side of the doors. He said that we should wait until it was our turn. That way we could appreciate the full affect of the audition. Summer and I stuck our tongues out at him.

I wasn't sure how long we waited but it felt longer than the time we had waited for Sam before Erik came bounding out of the double doors that kept the judges hidden, his own ticket to Vegas clutched in his hand.

"I did it! I'm going to Vegas too! I can't believe it!"

He was grinning ear to ear. Everyone standing in line within ear shot clapped and Sam burst into another round of "happy dancing" with his friend.

Summer and I each took our turn congratulating Erik before we all made our way back to the lobby. The woman with her camera crew was standing outside the front doors and she wasted no time in cornering our small group against the front doors when she saw the tickets that Sam and Erik made no attempt to hide from her.

"What are your names?" She asked excitedly holding her microphone out in front of them. Summer and I pressed ourselves out of the way and watched as they tried to look calm in front of the camera.

Sam looked cool and calm in front of the camera, like it was no big deal that this shot of him would probably be aired all over the country in a few short weeks. "The name's Sam."

Erik was not quite as calm, though he tried to stay cool with everyone staring at him. If he asked I would tell him he did a good job but he probably should have kept his mouth shut. "I'm Erik your soon to be 2009 champion! Watch for me America!"

The reporter made some comment about Erik's enthusiasm and Erik responded with confidence that America would soon see him in the top twenty. The reporter continued her attack by asking if it was true that this was Sam's second attempt to get on the show and if he thought the outcome would be any better this time.

Sam had shrugged his shoulders and said he was feeling good about his performance and made a smart comment about at least being good enough to get to Vegas. Sam and Erik pushed past the reported and Summer and I followed them back to Sam's truck.

"You guys taking off?" Summer asked.

Sam nodded "We'll have to head out pretty quick." He pulled Summer into a quick hug. "Good luck to both of you."

We nodded. "Thanks."

Erik and I exchanged hugs. "Can I get your cell number Bella? Then you can text us when you get your ticket."

"Tickets" Summer shot in, putting emphasis on the plural "S"

He nodded "Right. You two are going to do great."

"If we get our tickets to Vegas you realize that will make us rivals, right? We'll have to fight against each other to make it to the top twenty."

He smirked. "I look forward to it."

I exchanged numbers with Erik and it didn't surprise me too much when Summer and Sam swapped numbers too. They had been flirting all morning. Summer and I waved goodbye as Sam drove away and watched until they were out of sight.

Summer brushed her hand across her brow and sipped from her water bottle. It was early June in Phoenix after all and the sun was at its highest peek for the day. We forced our way back inside the lobby past the hoards of dancers still waiting for their chance to impress the judges.

"We can sit over there." Summer found an open patch of floor in a far corner and we claimed spots there. The judges were only in the mid four hundreds so we knew there was still quite a wait before we would get our chance but, with only three of today's dancers getting through to the next round so far, my optimism was taking a drastic hit. A lot of the dancers waiting looked older than my nineteen years and a few extra years could make a lot of difference in dancing experience.

It was almost six-thirty when the first set of eight hundreds were called into line. Summer and I gave our names to one of the workers and took our place in line. This time however we were both in costume and fighting the butterflies in our stomachs.

My Samba dress was silky, more revealing than I liked, and dark blue in color. Layers of thin fringe swung around my shoulders and waist, tickling my exposed midriff and knees. It was perfect for a dance that dealt almost more with your hips than with your feet. Not perfect when you didn't like to show that much skin.

Summer had on pin-striped pants and a black vest. The dark color of the vest made her red shirt pop and she had pulled on her black Jazz shoes along with a top hat. As we again neared the large double doors that separated the judges from the rest of us we watched as one after another of the dancers were turned away.

Finally it was time for Summer to go give her audition. She looked like she couldn't decide whether to shake with joy or pass out from the fear of what she was about to do. I pulled her into a hug and told her to kick some ass.

Summer put on a brave face and quickly moved into the judge's room before she could think about what she was doing. Summer was one of the best dancers I knew. We had been dancing together since we were little. Summer lived next door to my mom's house and we had met after my parents divorce. Well it wasn't so much divorce as it was my mom had picked me up and said she was leaving. The legal divorce had come later.

My dad, Charlie lived in a rainy little town no one has ever heard of called Forks, in northern Washington. I visited my father almost every summer but we weren't as close as we could have been. I had finally given up trying to prove that dance could be a real job when I was sixteen. That was the same year I had stopped going to Forks.

I waited in the hall impatiently for my best friend to emerge. On one hand I really wanted her to come out so I could see if she had won a ticket. On the other hand when she came out it would be time for me to go before the judges.

I glanced down at the clock on my cell phone and another minute ticked by. I jumped when the door clicked and pushed myself to my feet as Summer walked out. She met my hopeful look and slowly shook her head, showing me her empty hands. I felt my face fall and my jaw dropped in shock. The judges hadn't liked her. Summer hadn't gotten through to the next round.

I didn't really know what to say to her. It had never occurred to me that Summer wouldn't get on the show. At least that's what I had always told myself. Summer was a better dancer than I was and if she couldn't make it on why was I even bothering to try? "Oh, Summer. I'm so sorry." She shook her head and grabbed my hand.

"It's OK Bella. We can talk after. You have to get in there and win that ticket."

"But if you-" She pulled me forward and cut me off. "No 'buts' Bella! You get in there and dance for those judges. You're fantastic, it'll be fine. Go."

Summer had more confidence in me than I did and I felt the pre-show jitters set into my stomach. I was suddenly very glad I had only eaten a small lunch. The woman at the door checked my number and then Summer pushed me though the doors before I could say another word. No backing down now.

* * *

~Darkrose

The next chapter will have Bella's audition in it. I'm still undecided if I want to add lyrics or not when I write Bella or the other characters actually dancing. If you review please let me know your opinion on this matter since the reviews I get will influence whether or not I put the actual song lyrics in my story.

PS: If you liked this story you should check out my other one called "Jane" It's a story where Jane shows up at the Cullen's house looking for help from the only people who can protect her. Why has Jane runaway from Italy? and will she be able to escape Aro's anger? You'll just have to read it and find out.


	2. The Judges lair

This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer "Twilightaddict" I love getting reviews and knowing that others are enjoying my story and I hope you like chapter two as much as the first.

This chapter was written to a remix of the song "Baila, Balia" by Angela Via. I recommend listening to it while you read. It is also the song Bella will dance her audition to. If you have any requests for songs I can use in later performances I will gladly take suggestions for any style of dance.

Chapter Two: The Judges lair

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POV-Bella

My hand shook as I passed my CD to the man who would be running the stereo during my audition.

"It's track 3. Wait for my signal."

He nodded. "The judges will talk to you first, just nod at me when you're ready to begin." He pointed for me to move forward and I could see the light through a crack in the curtain. The judges were on the other side waiting for me.

I stepped forward and took a deep breath before pushing the curtain out of my way and stepping onto the stage. The short blue heels I was wearing clicked on the wood and I held my breath as I stopped in front of them. My heart was beating wildly and I desperately tried to get it under control.

I had been expecting the first two judges. Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy had been working for the show for as long as I could remember. I didn't know who the guest judge was but, I felt like I should recognize her face from somewhere. My fate on the show would be determined by these people.

Nigel glanced down at his clip board and then looked up at me. "Welcome Ms. Isabella."

"Just Bella." I corrected instantly and then bit down on my cheek. Way to make a good first impression Bella! Don't ever correct the judges. I felt my checks flush bright red and tried to take slow even breaths to calm my racing heart. They were going to think I was some stupid punk before I even got the chance to dance.

Nigel surprised me by smiling and nodded along with my correction. "There's a little note next to your name that says you prefer to be called Bella."

I nodded slowly and felt a wave of gratitude towards the nice man who had registered Summer and I. "Isabella just seems too formal."

He nodded. "Well, Bella I am sure you know Mary and myself."

I nodded enthusiastically and smiled over at Mary. Nigel held his hand out to the third judge. "This is Courtney Galiano you may recognize her from season four. She is returning this year as a guest judge to help us with the auditions for the second round."

"It's nice to meet you." I said politely trying to hide the smile on my face. Now that I knew her name I did recognize her from the show. Courtney had gotten all the way to the top four before she had been eliminated and I could only hope to do as well as she had.

Courtney nodded and took my sheet from Nigel glancing over my information. "It's nice to meet you too Bella. I am curious though, your sheet says you will be mixing Latin ballroom dance with Hip-hop. Where did this combination come from?"

I felt myself tense up as we talked. I really just wanted to start dancing but I knew the formalities were for the show. If my audition made it to the show they would want a clip of me saying my name and a little bit about myself.

"I teach at a Latin inspired dance school here in Phoenix called "Samba Sun". I've been taking lessons there since I was a little girl. Latin is my leading style but Hip-Hop has always been a close second so I've been working on mixing them together."

"I'm curious to see your performance too Bella." Mary interrupted. "Latin style dancing almost always requires a partner where as Hip-hop is just as easy alone or in groups. Are you more comfortable alone or do you generally dance with a partner?" She smiled at me quickly before adding. "And I love your dress."

I felt my checks flush again and I nervously played with the edge of my dress. "Thank you. I do enjoy partner dancing and I generally have one but I thought it would be better if I auditioned for the show alone."

Nigel leaned back in his seat. "If you're ready Bella you may begin anytime."

This was it. Sink or swim, fly or fall. Why was I doing this again? I felt my heart race and my breathing speed up as I moved to center stage. I was going to start backwards which made it easier to find the man running the stereo. I caught his eye and the opening notes to "Baila, Balia" by Angela Via rang through the room. I took a deep breath and let the room fall away. There were no judges, no cameras, it was just me doing what I loved most.

I slowly trailed my hands up my sides letting my hips sway to the piano. When the trumpet came in I spun slowly on my toes and faced the judges. The song began and I slowly stalked forward letting my hips lead. When the drum hit I dropped and froze in my pose waiting half a second before the drum hit again.

The drum hit three times and each time I hit a new pose with it, letting my hair and dress swing with the sudden jolt. When the trumpet came back in I started some traditional samba foot work. Samba was a fast sexy dance where the female dancer generally played the role of a seductress, luring her man onto the dance floor.

My hips shook to the trumpet as I moved forwards demanding the attention of everyone watching. My earlier nerves were forgotten as I fell into my dance letting it completely consume me. I kept my back strong and looked up through my eye lashes at the judges. Falling into character was probably my strongest advantage. I could push myself away and dance how the music wanted to move.

_DJ, turn it up  
Pump it loud  
Let's get wild  
Get your freak on the floor  
That's what we came here for  
Feel the heat  
Bump and grind  
Pack it up  
Add some whine  
Shake it up  
Shake it down  
DJ, please don't let this party end.  
_Baila, baila, baila

Nothing existed outside of myself and the beat of the song. I spun quickly letting the fringe of the dress fly around me and add to the movement of my hips. I focused internally on my breathing, keeping it under control as I picked up the pace of my dance so I wouldn't hyperventilate. I focused on my heart rate as well, keeping it from getting out of hand. I knew the moves to this dance so well I didn't have to waste my time focusing on them. All I had to do was add the emotion and become the person I was dancing. In this case, the person I was dancing was a sexy Samba dancer who wanted a ticket to Vegas.

As the chorus ended I slowed my moves back down letting the focus of my dance move from my hips to my chest and feet. The verses of the song would be where I showcased Hip-Hop. I dropped with the base drum and hopped forward letting my chest pop with the new tempo. If the Samba was the seductress of dance then Hip-Hop was the enforcer. The moves were stronger and more powerful but they still had to flow together just as fluidly.

_Papi, I'm ready  
Come and smoke  
My body's hot  
And while me know  
Just work it high  
And work it low  
You can pretend  
That it's all yours  
I know you wanna feel me  
And you want me like a toy  
I like the way you movin'  
And you shakin' back and forth._

In Samba the dancer tended to move with the soprano line, in this case that was the trumpet. As I switched my moves to a style closer to Hip-Hop I changed direction and started moving my steps according to the bass drum which was pounding out a steady rhythm in the background.

The chorus came back and I spun back around again changing the focus and balance of my body to my hips and waist. I ran a hand though my hair and let my eyes lock momentarily with each judges before starting forward again. I pushed the thought of the judges away just as quickly as it had come, I couldn't afford to get distracted.

_DJ, turn it up  
Pump it loud  
Let's get wild  
Get your freak on the floor  
That's what we came here for  
Feel the heat  
Bump and grind  
Pack it up  
Add some whine  
Shake it up  
Shake it down  
DJ, please don't let this party end.  
_

I let my hips shake with the music and smiled when I saw Mary dance a little in her seat. If the judges were getting into it they must think I was pretty good. The song flowed together seamlessly so without having known it before hand you wouldn't have been able to tell it was a remix. The last section of words started and I dropped to the bass beat again, letting my hand trail along the floor before standing back up and twisting forward again and moving into the chorus one last time.

As the last few notes of the song trailed away I turned my back on the judges and trailed my hands slowly back down my sides, the opposite of my opening move. My breathing was coming in quick even gasps and my heart raced with the familiar thrill that always came when I was dancing. This was what I was meant to do.

I spun around to face the judges and felt relieved when they started clapping. Then again what if they clapped for everyone? That would be the polite thing to do. I dipped a small bow and tried to fight the smile that was playing on my face.

"Thank you."

Mary tossed a sheet of paper in the air and I couldn't be sure if it was my sign up sheet or not. "Did we just get punked?" She asked with a straight face staring at me as I brushed the sweat from my forehead. I felt my face fall. Had I really been that bad? I thought back to my performance. I had gotten all of the steps right, I was sure of it. Maybe they just hadn't liked my choreography?

"What happened to the blushing, nervous girl who walked in?" Mary continued glancing first at Courtney then at Nigel. Neither one of them could give her an answer and my frown turned into a look of confusion.

I felt my cheeks burn red as she pointed out my signature blush. I had never been able to control my face or hide what I was feeling. My mom had always said I was an open book just waiting to be read. I smiled sheepishly and shrugged my shoulders. "I tend to get nervous before I dance." I tried to defend myself.

She nodded. "I could see that but, your dance was the complete opposite. It was confident and sexy. It was like you were a completely different person."

I nodded slowly again. "I also tend to get a little lost in the music. Once I stop thinking about the audience it's easier for me to focus on the dance and put more emotion into what I'm doing."

"That's what I've been waiting for. That sexy, strong attitude is what we've been missing all day." She said happily turning to look at Nigel. Nigel nodded along with her enthusiasm.

"I'll admit when I saw you were going to try and mix Latin ballroom with Hip-Hop I was concerned but that was definitely an improvement over some of the other dances we've seen recently."

I felt a stab of guilt as I realized one of the dances they were talking about was my best friend who was waiting just outside for me. As soon as the guilt was gone it was replaced with joy. They had liked my dance.

"Is this the sort of dancing you teach at your school?" Courtney asked from her seat.

I shook my head. "It's not my school I just work there. The classes I teach are strictly Latin dancing but I personally think this is more fun."

"Who did your choreography?" Nigel asked as he jotted some notes down quickly.

I pushed some of my hair out of my face and took a second to try and catch my breath. "I did. I think a dance is more personal if the dancer is the one who designs it."

Nigel nodded. "Very impressive but are you comfortable dancing someone else's choreography?"

"I can follow direction if that's what you mean."

They were all smiling and so far I hadn't gotten any negative comments but, I was still standing on edge waiting. I could see the tickets to Vegas on the table, they were sitting there torturing me, but no one was reaching for them. Nigel talked quietly to Mary for a second and then they both listened to something that Courtney said.

The suspense was killing me and I fidgeted nervously back and fourth while my hands had gone back to playing with the fringe on my dress.

Mary turned quickly back to me and clapped her hands together out in front of her. "Isabella we-"

"Bella" I corrected instinctively before biting down on my lip and internally yelling at myself again. I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut.

She nodded. "Sorry, Bella. It's a unanimous decision amongst the three of us. We would love it if you came to Vegas."

My jaw locked and my eyes must have grown two sizes. I stood motionless for a full second before the realization of what she had asked set in. They wanted me to go? I was going to be on the show!

I jumped and couldn't stop myself from busting into a little happy dance right there in front of the judges and the camera. I pulled myself together and raced across the room. Nigel wrote my name on the card signifying I had made it to the next round and then passed me a ticket.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

I was going to Vegas. I was going to Vegas! I was going to Vegas!! I chanted the words in my head and was impressed that I managed to keep from singing them out loud.

"The plane leaves for Vegas in three weeks. We look forward to seeing you dance like that with a partner."

"I'll do my best."

He smiled at me. "This week's auditions will be in the season's first episode starting next week on FOX. You should watch it."

"All ready planning on it."

I locked my arms behind my back in order to prevent myself from pulling Nigel into a hug and thanked them all for having me again. I spun around on my toes and flew back behind the curtains. I got my CD back and thanked the man who had run my music without missing a step as I barreled towards the doors to the hallway.

I forced the doors out of my way as quickly as I could and jumped into the hallway, my excitement finally getting the best of me as I realized why no one who got on the show seemed to be able to resist yelling.

"I'm going to Vegas!"

In one swift motion I kicked off my heels and grabbed Summer off the ground. We jumped up and down a few hundred times and danced around in the hall.

"I'm so happy for you Bella. I knew you could do it." Summer said as her face fell and I pulled my best friend back into another hug.

"I'm so sorry Summer."

She shrugged me off and forced a smile for me. "It's ok, I'll just try again next year. Besides I never could have beaten you anyway."

"That's not true Summer, you're a great dancer."

She smiled at me. "You don't realize your own skill Bella. You've got to give yourself more credit if you're going to be dancing circles around those other dancers on TV."

"I haven't made the show yet Summer just the second round."

She smiled. "You will. This is just the first step."

"Thanks Summer. I don't know how I'll make it without you there."

She stopped walking and raised an eyebrow at me. "You're going to kick ass whether I'm there or not. If you let me distract you I'll kick your butt Bella and you know I will."

I held my hands up in surrender. She was kind of scary when she got angry. "Ok, ok. You know I'll try my hardest."

"Damn straight." Summer said. "This is your big break. Now the whole world is going to know your name and I'll be rooting for you back here with your mom the whole time."

As we approached the front doors I saw the camera lady walking around outside. She was watching the doors expectantly and I had a feeling someone was calling her every time a dancer made it to the next round so she could jump them for an interview.

"Um Sumer?-" I stopped in the lobby and pulled her to the side with me.

"What is it Bella?"

"I'm going to change before we go outside."

Summer watched my face then followed my nervous glance back to the front doors. Her face lit up when she saw the camera lady and I tried to make a run for it.

"No you don't Bella. Get your skinny little ass back here." Summer grabbed me by the arm and pulled me forward.

"Summer come on I want to just sneak past her."

"No complaining Bella you've got to get used to cameras or they'll throw you off when you're on the show."

I couldn't find a good argument to that so I sulkingly let her pull me through the front doors. She waved my ticket in the air and called to the reporter.

"Here's your next dancing star!"

I yanked my arm free and scowled at Summer as the reporter descended on us. She forced her way to my side and smiled at the camera. The man holding the camera hit a few buttons then motioned for her to start.

"Here we are standing with another one of the dancing jewels that our judges have found hidden in the Phoenix sands and there don't seem to be many of them." She turned her smile on me. "What's your name darlin'?"

I floundered for a second before responding. "Bella, it's Bella."

"Well Bella, how do you feel about making it on the show?"

My eye brows pushed together. "I haven't made the show yet. This is just for the second round."

The reporter nodded along, but her attention had gone back to the camera. "Do you think you will make the show?"

Duh! Why the hell would I have auditioned if I didn't think I would make it? That was the whole reason everyone was standing in line. "Oh, course I hope I make it to the top twenty."

The reporter didn't seem to notice my irritation and she asked another question. "What's your strongest dance style?"

"Latin/Hip-Hop."

"Are you concerned with meeting the other dancers?"

That was a pretty open ended question. "Not really. I-"

She cut me off before I could finish saying that I generally didn't have too many problems getting along with other dancers.

"So you don't think you'll have any competition in Vegas?" She asked spinning my words around.

"No, that's not what-"

She cut me off again. "Pretty confident words from a first timer. We'll have to see how you do in Vegas to see if they're warranted." I felt my frown lock in place and I stuck out my chin. This reporter was flipping my words around and I was getting ready to defend myself. She was going to set me up against the other dancers before I even got to Vegas.

Summer jumped in between us and grabbed my arm. "Back off you vulture." She pushed me backwards and ducked under another camera worker. I ducked behind her and she half pulled me half dragged me to the other side of the street.

"Did you hear what that woman said?" I asked angrily glancing back at the reporter who was talking into the camera again. "She's going to make it look like I bashed the other dancers on TV."

"It'll be ok Bella."

Summer led the way down the block and I wished I had changed before we left. My costume was getting me a lot of funny looks and I sighed in relief when I was able to hide behind the wheel of my faithful old truck. The rusty chevy had been a gift from my father and I had never been able to talk myself into a better car. I liked my truck.

By the time we pulled into my driveway Summer had repaired my poor mood and now I couldn't wait to race inside and tell my mother Renee how the auditions had gone. My mother was a little erratic but it was thanks to her that I had started dance lessons at all.

I had been clumsy when I was little but she had desperately wanted to see me try ballet. I had been too young to argue and now I couldn't thank her enough for encouraging me to wear the frilly pink Tutu she still had in our hall closet. I hadn't been the best ballet dancer but...

I parked the truck in the driveway and bolted through the front doors, Summer right on my heels as we shouted for my mom.

"Mom!"

"Renee where are you?"

"Mom!"

"We're out back honey."

Summer and I shot out the back door and found my mom sitting out side with her new husband Phil. Phil was standing at the grill and my mom was sitting in a lawn chair with a glass of lemonade.

"I did it!"

I waved my ticket in the air and jumped the back steps. "I made it to Vegas."

Renee dropped her glass and jumped to my side. "Oh, Bella that's great news. I'm so proud of you. We knew you could do it. Didn't we Phil?"

My stepfather floundered when my mom turned the spot light on him but he nodded along and congratulated me. Renee glanced over my shoulder then pulled Summer into a group hug with us.

"What about you Summer how did your audition go?"

She shrugged. "I thought I did fine but it looks like I'm going to be in the stands cheering Bella along with you."

"Oh, honey I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

Phil told Summer to invite her mom over for dinner and we spent the rest of the night talking about the show. I was going to have to get my things together and my mom was on tape detail. I wanted a copy of every episode and it was her job to remember to tape them all. My mom took the job with a smile and determination but when she turned her back Summer promised she would tape them all at her house. Just in case.

* * *

~Darkrose

Please let me know what you think. It was harder then I thought it would be to write Bella's choreography although in the end I was happy with it. Dancing it such a 'physical thing' it was hard to try and write it so you could see the moves. I hope you felt I did it justice. I'll get the next chapter posted as soon as I finish editing it.


	3. Break a Leg

This chapter is dedicated to "Pianolinist" your review made my whole day and I'm glad you enjoyed my story that much.

This chapter was inspired mainly by the song "Swing" written by Savage Feat and Soulja Boy and all of the music written by the Blues Brothers. Just in case you want something to listen to while you read.  
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. The next chapter is going to be the start of the dreadful "Vegas Call Backs"….Bum, Bum, Bum!

Chapter 3: Break a Leg

* * *

POV-Bella

"Ooo look at that one Bella he's cute."

A few weeks later, Summer and I were lounging on the bed in my room watching the last week of auditions as it airred on TV. Only eighteen dancers from Phoenix had made it to the next round and so far the auditions in Seattle were going no better.

"Yeah he is, you think he takes steroids?"

I made my voice sarcastic but there was some real question there. The boy who had just entered the judge's room was huge! He had short, curly black hair and had to be at least six feet tall. He introduced himself as Emmett Cullen and he would be doing a Hip-Hop routine for the Judges.

"You think he'll make it?"

Summer asked as she pushed our bucket of popcorn closer to me. I stuck a piece in my mouth and looked down at our list. We were keeping a list of the names of all the dancers who had made it to the second round so far. My mom thought it was kind of stalkerish but we just thought of it as researching the competition.

"I don't know. No one else has."

They must have shown us at least a dozen auditions so far but, none of the Washington hopefuls had been what the judges were looking for.

Emmett nodded to the man working music and "Swing" by: Savage Feat and Soulja Boy started playing. I stared open mouthed as he started moving to the music. Summer was shaking at my side as she giggled and about half way through the song she fell off the bed.

"Oh My God!?!"

She said slowly pulling herself back up our eyes completely glued to the screen. I nodded along and stuck another piece of popcorn in my mouth. He was amazing! I hadn't been sure a guy could shake his hips like that but, apparently they could. Or maybe a better thing to say was apparently "**he**" could shake his hips like that.

He dropped, thrusted and swung with the music as the judges watched. They looked about as dumb struck as we were. As the music came to an end, Emmett turned to face the judges and took a deep bow. A smile that could have rivaled Summers painted across his face. He was breathing hard and I noticed that one of his dimples was slightly smaller than the other. It was cute.

"Damn." Summer commented as the judges clapped and took a second to compose themselves. Once they were done Mary raised her hand and said-

"I want him in Vegas." Then she screamed.

Nigel nodded his agreement and they looked over at Courtney waiting for her opinion on Emmett's dance. She hesitated for a second, stunned into silence, before nodding her head and smiling at him.

"Most Definitely, welcome to Vegas Emmett."

Emmett did a little dance and actually gave Mary a hug before grabbing his ticket and bounding out the door. He jumped over to a group of people who were probably his family before shouting the signature "I'm going to Vegas" line at the camera.

I added his name to the list and Summer put a little star next to it.

"What's the star for?"

"People I want you to get as a partner on the show. He's hot Bella! I could totally see you dancing with him. And you wouldn't have to worry about him dropping you on any lifts. He's build like a tank."

I giggled as she drooled over the TV, where Emmett was still dancing around. "What if I got him as a partner and then picked ballet as our style for the week? Something about him makes me think he wouldn't be very good at Ballet."

She shrugged. "You suck at Ballet too so it wouldn't make a difference. You better pray to every God you know that you don't draw Ballet out of the hat."

"True." Ballet was the first style of dance I had ever taken as a young girl and it was the only one I couldn't do, for whatever reason I had never been able to master the slow delicate dancing. I preferred to move faster and had an easier time keeping a faster tempo.

We turned back to the TV as the next dancer came onto the stage and Summer let out a low whistle as we both leaned close to the screen.

"Speaking of hot, check him out Bella."

I was checking him out. The next dancer that came on stage was a boy about my age with messy, reddish brown hair. He was shorter than Emmett and his muscle was leaner, rather then bulky like Emmett's had been. He was wearing black dress pants and a black hat with a dark blue button-up shirt. The shirt's dark tone matched the color of the dress his partner was wearing.

He introduced himself as Edward Cullen and he and his partner would be performing a Latin style Cha-Cha for the judges. His partner was named Tanya and she was a friend of his from the school where they took lessons. She was using this performance as her audition too.

Tanya looked to be about 5'7 in height but the heels she was wearing made her even with Edward. The dress she had on was an elegant, floor length, formal number. It was held up by two thin straps and the neck line plunged to her belly button held closed by a diamond clasp. A slit ran up the center of the dress leaving only a few inches of skin concealed.

"I hope she's wearing a leotard." Summer commented, wrinkling her nose at the dress.

"Me too."

"I bet he makes it." Summer said.

"I certainly hope so." I agreed.

He was absolutely breath taking. His eyes were the brightest shade of green I had ever seen on a man and he liked Latin style dancing. A more rational part of me was feeling stupid for drooling over a man I didn't know and another part of me was telling the more rational side to shut up and let me dream.

"He said his last name was Cullen. Do you think he's related to Emmett?"

I shrugged, my eyes glued to the screen. "Probably, that's a pretty unusual name. They don't look alike though."

"Well, if he can dance anything like his brother he'll get on for sure."

I knocked on my wooden bedside table and playfully hit Summer's shoulder. "Don't jinx him." She rolled her eyes at my superstition and turned back to the TV.

Edward and his partner took their opening stance and the music began. There were no words in the music but it was definitely Latin. You could hear a Spanish guitar, and a trumpet as well as a grand piano playing and they moved perfectly together.

The Cha-Cha was slower than most Latin dances. It focused on precision and tricks performed seamlessly by both partners. Edward was leading as he and Tanya twisted and spun around the stage. The music picked up tempo and Tanya spun away from him only to return and have Edward throw her into a lift.

Tanya landed on Edward's shoulder then flipped backwards and landed behind him. She spun him around and he proceeded to lift her up and flip her right back. They picked up a faster set of steps and for her last move Tanya took the hat right off Edward's head and placed it on her own mess of strawberry blond curls.

The judges made a few comments and pointed out one spot in the dance where Tanya had fallen a half a beat behind. Mary was impressed by how Tanya had fixed her mistake and soon Courtney presented them both with plane tickets to Las Vegas.

Tanya screamed and launched herself into Nigel's arms only releasing him when Edward took her hand and lead her back into the hall. Tanya screamed again when they got into the hall and Emmett was there with a small group waiting for them.

"You'll have to be careful of those two Bella. I'll bet they work together on the show."

"You think so?"

"We would have helped each other if I had gotten a ticket." She pointed out and added both of their names to our growing list. She drew a small line connecting their names so we wouldn't forget that they knew each other and then left to make more popcorn.

As the show continued, eleven more dancers from Washington made it to the Vegas callbacks. Among them was a girl with black hair named Jessica who danced Contemporary and a boy with long blond hair named James.

"Put a mark next to that one." Summer suggested pointing to another girl who had danced Contemporary for the judges. I didn't remember her routine too well but I knew her face. She had light blue eyes, her cheeks were covered in freckles and her hair had been blaze red.

"Why?"

"I didn't like her."

I chuckled and put a tiny frowning face next to her name. I took the tape out and made arrangements to meet at Summer's house the following day to watch the next set of auditions.

We watched auditions take place in: Austin, Texas, Miami, Florida, Boston, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chicago, and New York City. By the time the last dancers New York had to offer were finished dancing, a total of 164 tickets had been given to people who had advanced to the second round in Las Vegas.

I flipped off the TV and gave a hopeless glance at my suit cases which were lined up by the door waiting for me. I was leaving tomorrow morning and the more I watched the more pointless this all seemed.

"A hundred and sixty four dancers Summer. Do you really think I have a chance against that many people?"

I glanced down at the list in front of me. Six of the dancers had been awarded Summer's frowning face of disapproval, every other boy had a star next to their name signifying hotness and twenty seven of the dancers had exclamation points next to them. The ones with exclamation points were ones Summer wanted me to watch out for.

"You're going to do fine Bella." She scooted over and wrapped her arms around my waist. "It's going to be hard. No one said it was easy. But, this is what you want to do isn't it?"

I pulled away from her. "Of course it is. You know I want to dance more than anything."

"Then stop worrying about it Bella. If you think you're going to lose you will lose. You have to go Vegas and kick as much ass as you can then when you get back you can audition for Julliard again. With the show on your transcript they can't say no."

I rolled my eyes and folded our list up. My last audition to Julliard had been a disaster and I wasn't sure I wanted to try again. There were plenty of other schools in the country that were equipped to give me a degree in dance and probably some that were better suited for someone who liked Latin and Hip-Hop.

I tucked the list into my backpack and grabbed my pillow from my bed. Summer and I were having a sleep over before I left and we had piled almost every blanket and pillow in the house on the floor in my room to make a sort of nest for ourselves. This had been a weekly tradition for as long as I could remember.

"Let's watch the Austin auditions again."

Summer groaned. "We've watched it four times already Bella."

"I want to see it one more time. Those blonde twins are going to be hard to beat." Thirty seven people had been chosen from Austin and out of them two had really stuck out. The first was a honey blonde boy with dark blue eyes named Jasper. He and his twin sister Rosalie had blown the judges away one after another even with their radically different styles.

Rosalie looked like a love child born from Madonna and Fred Astaire. She was blonde, most of her height came from two perfectly sculpted legs and her Hip-Hop dance had been dangerously sexy. The only thing in the room hotter than her confident moves was the scanty little thing she had tried to call a dress. The judges had hardly spoken before they handed her a ticket and she strutted off the stage in four inch, blood red heels.

Her brother was a head taller and shared her blonde colored hair. He had performed a freestyle Jazz routine to the Blues Brothers and blown the judges away. I was pretty sure during his whole audition he had only spoken five or six words but he walked out with a ticket just like his sister. I labeled him 'silent but deadly' on the list.

Summer hit the eject button and took the tape back out. "You should get some sleep Bella. Watching them won't make you better than they are. You need to be in tip top shape for when you arrive in Vegas. You never know what the judges are going to spring on you. Remember it's not _"America's best dancer"_ their looking for, its _"Americas favorite dancer"._ You're so much fun to watch Bell--everyone around you can feel the emotion you put into your work."

I scowled at her. "What about that little Jazz dancer from New York? How am I going to beat her? The judges loved her."

Sixty people had moved on to the second round from New York and the one who stood out the most was a girl hardly five feet high. She had spiky black hair, intelligent green eyes, and a lot of attitude.

She had told the judges her size was one of her biggest tools since people tended to underestimate short dancers and from the way her audition went I was determined not to make that mistake with her. She was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

"You'll meet her and the others tomorrow in Las Vegas." Summer kicked my pillow at me and hit the lights. "Go to sleep."

I tossed and turned for a long time running over all of the dancers I could remember. There had been two boys from Minnesota who had passed with ballroom auditions. Another girl from Atlanta had done a Broadway dance to "Steam Clean" from The Pajama Game. Every dance style I could think of had won a ticket to Vegas.

I rolled over and heard Summer sigh. "If I put the Austin auditions in will you try to get some sleep?" She mumbled into her pillow.

I sat up as quickly as I could and grabbed the popcorn bowl. "Yes! I promise! Put it in."

"Lay down first. You can't sleep if you're sitting up."

I grumbled a little bit but laid down so I could still see the TV. Summer stuck our tape of the Austin auditions in and somewhere in the middle I finally fell asleep. My dreams were colorful. I couldn't remember too much except for a bunch of faces. After three weeks of nothing that didn't involve dancing and watching my competition I had memorized the faces of practically all the other dancers. At least the ones they had shown on the TV.

It felt like I had just fallen asleep when summer was shaking my shoulder. "Bella? Bella you've got to get up now."

I rolled away from her. "Five more minutes."

"No, you already over slept because you wouldn't go to bed last night. Get some clothes on or Renee and I will drag you to the airport in your PJ's."

I jumped to my feet and got tangled in the sheet I had been sleeping with. I was going to Las Vegas today! I tried to untangle myself and tripped over my pillow. As I finally managed to get to my feet Summer slumped to her knees giggling at me.

"I'm glad you find my pain so humorous."

"Oh Bella" She sighed. "I'm going to miss you so much." Summer stood up and gave me a big hug. When she pulled back she shoved a pair of jeans and a shirt into my hands and ordered me to be ready and down stairs in five minutes.

I pulled the clothes on and made myself presentable with enough time to grab a piece of toast before my mom pulled me out the door.

Phil was driving and I road in the back seat with Summer as we made our way to the airport. It took an hour to get through baggage and security and for all the rush we had been in we still found ourselves in the terminal an hour before boarding was supposed to start.

"Bella! Bella behind you! Turn around! Over here!"

I spun around and found Erik racing at me down the hall. Sam was only a step behind him and within seconds I was being pulled into a bone crushing hug. I wouldn't have thought stringy little Erik had that much muscle on him.

"Can you believe it's finally time?" Erik yelled, passing me off to Sam for another hug.

Erik and I had been in almost constant communication since our auditions and it amazed me that his enthusiasm never seemed to die. Sam had let me go and moved to give Summer a hug. They hadn't stopped talking since the auditions either and whenever I brought it up Summer would give me a dirty look and say that they were just friends.

Sam, Erik, Phil, Renee, Summer and I piled ourselves in a corner and talked while we waited for the plane to start boarding. I couldn't decide if time was moving too fast or too slow. The sooner we got on the plane, the sooner the competition would start, and the sooner I would see if I could stand up to some of the countries best dancers. The sooner I would have to leave my mom and best friend behind. The sooner my big chance to get known would start.

"Attention we are now boarding first class for flight 1092. North West Airlines, nonstop flight to Las Vegas, Nevada." I jumped as a flight attendant announced our flight and scrambled to my feet.

My mom pulled me into one last hug. "Calm down Bella you're going to do just fine. I love you honey."

She passed me to Phil and we hugged briefly. Phil was a good guy and Renee loved him but we weren't that close yet. "Good luck Bella."

"Thanks Phil."

Summer was in tears as she grabbed me away from my parents and claimed her hug time. "Bella I'm so happy for you. We're going to watch you on TV every week. Don't let the other dancers push you around and don't over work yourself. You're a great dancer and you need to believe that before anyone else will, Ok?"

"I promise."

"You've got your cell phone on you right?"

"It's in my back pocket."

"Good, text me when you land in Nevada."

"You can count on it."

The flight attendant called for business class seats and I stood in line with Erik and Sam. The flight attendant checked my ticket and I waved goodbye one last time.

"Good Luck in Vegas Bella. Break a leg!"

I gave Summer a thumbs up and boarded the plane. Erik and Sam had seats a few rows behind mine. I tucked my backpack under my seat and plugged my head phones in. I tuned out the attendant as she went over the emergency rules. With all of the planes I had used to go back and forth between my mom and dad's houses I had them memorized. My late night caught up with me on the plane and I fell asleep shortly after we were airborn, my head phones plugged into my ears.

I slept hard on the plane and it was the jolt of landing that finally woke me up. I grabbed my bag and tapped my toes impatiently as I waited for the people in front of me to move out of the way. I found Erik and Sam in the lobby and we got our things from baggage claim together.

"There's supposed to be someone here to take us to the hotel." Sam said scanning the room for some sign of who was waiting for us.

Erik pointed across the room to a small cluster of people. "I think that's them. They look like dancers."

"What is your definition of dancer?" I asked as I looked over the group. They were all from our plane and I felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier. All of the dancers who lived in Phoenix were probably on that plane and I hadn't even tried to spot them.

The man at the center of the group stepped forward and I could see the sign he was holding. It read "So You Think You Can Dance".

"Looks like our ride alright." Sam led the way and we walked over to them.

There were five dancers already there, three girls and two boys. We waited a moment longer and were joined by one more girl. She had soft brown hair and was an inch taller than I was. The driver looked over our group then pulled out a list of names.

"Jennifer?"

A girl with long black hair jumped to her feet, startled. "Here." She realized what the driver was doing and sat back down on her suitcase. The driver went over the rest of his list calling names and every one responded.

"Alex?" "Here"

"Sam?" "Over here"

"Tracy?" "I'm here."

"Erik?" "Yo"

"Isabella?" "Just Bella" Why was the whole world determined to use my full name?

"Bradley" "Here"

"Jason?" "Here"

"And lastly, where is Angela Webber?" The girl with brown hair standing next to me smiled as he said her name. "Here, finally."

Our small group followed the driver outside and found a small limo waiting for us.

"Wow! Check out the ride."

"Nice"

Two men loaded our things into the trunk and then held the door open as we all climbed inside. The interior was black leather and small lights were lined along the seats. Angela was the last one in and she glanced around nervously, unsure of where to sit. I caught her eye and patted the seat next to me, inviting her in. She smiled warmly at me and quickly claimed the seat at my side.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"You're Isabella right?"

"Just Bella, yes."

"I saw your audition. It was great. I'm Angela by the way."

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you."

Most of the limo was trying to make small talk. Erik had his nose pressed against the glass and he was the first one to spot the hotel.

"Look there it is!"

Everyone crowded around the window and we watched as our home for the next few weeks came into view. Hopefully it would be my home for the next three months. First I had to out dance everyone in this limo and all of the other dancers waiting inside. My feet were already sore.

* * *

~Darkrose

Wow! The inspiration for this story just won't stop. I already have ideas for "The Terrible Callbacks" and the top twenty group dance. I love reviews so please feel free to leave one. It's nice to know when others are taking the time to read your story and even nicer when they like what they see.

I'll update soon! I promise


	4. I'll Catch You

This chapter was inspired by Evanescence even though none of their music is in the chapter. It's just what I was listening to while I was writing it.  
This is sort of Pre-Callbacks. I promise there will be some dancing in the next chapter but I needed to get Edward and Bella's first encounter out of my system while I was thinking about it and I couldn't resist adding Alice into the mix.

Let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Chapter 4: I'll catch you

* * *

POV-Bella

I followed along with Erik, Sam, Angela, and the rest of the Phoenix dancers as we piled into the lobby. The hotel was gigantic and the lobby was full of little pods of dancers being shuffled around and signed in. I caught a few glimpses of faces I recognized from the audition shows.

The red head Summer hadn't liked. The blond twins from Austin, an Asian ballet dancer from Boston. Our driver walked us over to a far corner and delivered us to a man with a clip board.

"This is the group from Phoenix."

The man counted us off with his finger and checked with his sheet.

"Alright I got them. You can go."

Our driver gave a short bow and was gone. Our director clapped his hands and made sure everyone was watching before he spoke to us.

"Hello everyone welcome to Las Vegas."

There was some small cheering and Erik "whooped" and did a back flip.

"I just need you all to sign your names stating that you got here in one piece and then I can take you to your rooms. During the auditions you will be sharing your room with one other dancer and as people get eliminated you may be shuffled around a bit."

"Do we get to choose our room mates?" The girl with long black hair asked.

Our director passed his clip board around so everyone could sign it. "No, room assignments have already been decided." The girl with dark hair gave a sideways glance in my direction and maybe I imagined it but, she didn't look too friendly.

Angela was still by my side and she gazed around the room in awe as we were led down a mirrored hallway to another waiting room.

"Wow Bella. Can you believe this is really happening?" She asked and almost ran into a giant fake plant since she wasn't watching where she was going.

I looped my arm through hers and pulled her out of the way.

"Thanks." She said not looking in my direction but using my arm to make sure she didn't trip again. I liked Angela. She had a 'down to earth feel' about her even if, right now she was a little spacey.

"No problem and, no. I don't believe this is really happening. I never thought I would make to the second round."

She gripped my hand and gave me a small smile. "I don't think any of us really did."

"That's not what you said to the reporter after your audition." A voice sneered from behind us. I groaned internally and silently cursed the reporter who had misquoted me. To my dismay, almost my entire interview had been aired on the TV and the reporter had passed me off as arrogant and snooty. I was hoping no one would bring it up.

I spun around and found the black haired girl standing behind us with one of the boys from our group. I couldn't remember their names but they were both giving me bad looks.

"That reporter misquoted me. I didn't say I had no competition. She twisted my words around."

"That's what everyone says when interviews get them in trouble." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked around me.

"Damn that reporter." I spun back around and grabbed my bag off the floor. I had been afraid that this would happen and now that it had I was sure others would bring it up as well. Dancers tended to have very fiery attitudes and no one liked an arrogant show off. That reporter had better pray I never found out her name.

Angela looped her free arm back through mine and patted my hand. "Don't worry about her. I have a feeling she's like that to everyone."

"Do you believe me?" I asked hoping that maybe one person would be able to see past the picture of me the reporter had painted.

She nodded. "Why wouldn't I? You seem like a nice person to me Bella and I can make my own opinions about you."

"Thanks Angela."

We were in a smaller waiting room now and our director was holding a handful of room keys. I desperately hoped I would get Angela as my roommate.

"I'm going to give you your room assignment and you are free to head upstairs and freshen up. Dancers are going to be arriving all day. Meals will be served in the great hall." He pointed over his shoulder. "It's right through those doors. Tonight at dinner you will be getting a schedule and tomorrow your callbacks start."

He passed out tickets and I was disappointed to see that the number on mine did not match Angela's.

"Are you kidding me?"

The girl with dark hair was looking over my shoulder and I cringed when I saw the numbers on our room keys matched.

"Is there a problem here ladies?" Our director asked as he glanced at our sheets.

"I don't want to share a room with her."

I glared at her. "The feeling is very mutual."

I felt my jaw lock and my eye brows scrunch together. I hadn't done anything to deserve this girl's hate and I wasn't going to stand here and be insulted.

"I already told you what happened. That reporter twisted my interview around. I didn't say any of those mean things."

"I'll trade with you?" Angela offered, jumping in between us. She held up her room key and I smiled when she swapped rooms with my number one fan. At least I had one friend going into this. I was glad Erik and Sam had been on my side about the interview fiasco as well.

It took another ten minutes to get up stairs and as soon as we were inside I swung the door shut and flopped, face first down on the bed.

"Thanks Angela." I mumbled into my pillow. If I ever found out who that reporter woman was she was going to be getting a not too happy letter from me.

I heard Angela jump on the second bed and then she giggled. "It's ok Bella. I wanted an excuse to be your room mate anyway. I feel better knowing I have one friend here."

I nodded but since my face was still pressed into my pillow I wasn't sure what it looked like. Eventually I got up and shuffled into the bathroom to take a shower. I let myself soak in the hot water and then felt bad that I hadn't left any for Angela.

When I reentered our room Angela was asleep on top of her bed, fully clothed. I was willing to guess that she wasn't used to flying and the jet lag had gotten to her. I pulled on an old pair of sweat pants and my favorite blue tank-top. I could put something more presentable on before dinner but, a nap was starting to sound good.

There was a knock on the door and I checked through the little peep-hole before opening the door, checking to make sure it wasn't my friend with the long black hair. I felt myself relax when I recognized some famliar faces.

"Hi Erik, what's up?"

"We just thought we would pick you up before dinner. You don't want to sit alone do you? Where's your roommate?"

I wasn't listening. Erik and Sam were standing in front of me but they weren't alone in the hall. He was just as breathtaking live as he had been on TV and if it was possible even more so. I realized to my embarrassment I was dressed in sweatpants. My cheeks got hot and I could just picture my signature blush turning my face red. He was staring at me and a lopsided grin made him even more perfect.

Erik had stepped around me and was still talking. Sam on the other hand, bless his heart, had realized I wasn't paying attention and stepped in to save me from embarrassing myself further.

"Bella, this is Edward. He has the room across the hall from us. We bumped into each other and decided to get dinner together."

Edward stepped forward and held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

I reached out and shook his hand. "Yeah.." My checks flushed darker. "I um, I mean it's nice to meet you too. I'm Bella." I tore my gaze away from him and looked at Sam.

"I'll be right out. I guess time got away from us. We didn't realize how late it was. Hold on one sec and I'll get Angela."

I hurried back into the room and pushed Erik out into the hall. I grabbed a pillow off my bed and chucked it at Angela as I tore my suitcase open. Angela jumped awake.

"What happened?"

"You fell asleep, I wasn't paying attention. It's dinner time."

Angela got up and opened her bag. I was hunting through my bag looking for something comfortable but nice. Thank God I had let Summer help me with my packing. Summer's taste in clothes was excellent.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Angel asked running a brush though her hair. I threw my sweats and tank-top on the bed and settled for a pair of black pants and an orange top that said "Dance your way" on it. I tore a brush through my hair and checked in the full length mirror by the door. Not perfect but it was going to have to work.

"My friends are outside waiting for us. I don't want to keep them waiting."

I pulled a pair of black flats on and we rejoined the boys in the hall.

"Angela this is Sam, Erik and Edward. Guys this is my roommate Angela."

There were some brief hellos and handshakes then we were walking towards the dining hall. I ended up walking between Angela and Edward and I blushed a shade darker when I tripped and bumped into him.

"Sorry."

He smirked again, a smile I was quickly coming to love. "Don't worry about it. I'll catch you." His arm had wrapped around my waist as he helped me find my feet again and my skin was still tingling from the contact even after he had dropped his arm back to his side.

"Edward. Hey Edward! Look over here."

I recognized Edward's brother Emmett and the blonde who was sitting with him from his audition. Emmett waved us over when we walked into the dining hall. Motioning for Edward to go join him.

Edward glanced back at the rest of us. "Would you mind if we sat with my brother?" No one did, so Edward led the way across the brightly light room to the large table Emmett and Tanya had managed to save.

The room was an off white color with deep red carpet. All of the tables were draped in white cloths and everything was bordered or decorated with gold trim. I tried to sit next to Edward but Erik and Angela were too quick in claiming the seats next to me. Edward ended up sitting across from me between Sam and Tanya.

There was a buffet along the wall and we spent the next hour eating and talking about what we thought the auditions would be like. Sam told us stories about his first audition and horror stories were spreading around the room.

"The judges are ruthless and they'll throw everything at you. It's America's job to pick their favorite dancer but it's the judge's job to make sure only the best have a chance to fight for it."

"What styles did you do last time you were here?" Tanya wondered.

"Last time I was here I only made it to the second day of callbacks. We did Fox Trot on day one and then I got my butt kicked in Ballroom."

"Ballroom's our specialty." Tanya said shooting Edward a meaningful look. Edward shrugged his shoulders and glanced over at me. My cheeks flamed red again and I quickly let my eyes drop and turned my attention back to Sam.

That was the second time Edward had caught me watching him during dinner. I couldn't seem to stop myself from staring at him. Everything about him was so unusual. During dinner, I had managed to learn that though he and Emmett were brothers they weren't related. They had both been adopted by their parents when they were younger.

Edward and Tanya had been dancing together for three years now and when Edward mentioned that they were just friends, Tanya had scowled at him. That had been right after the first time he caught me staring.

"Knowing what the show is like they'll pick dance styles from all over the board wanting to make sure anyone who makes it to the show can handle all of the different dances."

"I'm getting nervous." Angela admitted and I agreed with her.

Tanya shook her hair off her shoulders and raised her chin a little bit. "I'm not nervous. I deserve to be here and it's only a matter of time before the judges realize that."

I felt like knocking on wood again but decided I really wouldn't mind if Tanya got sent home. Let her mess with Karma. Anyone that cocky had better be good because if she wasn't the judges, would see to it she got on the first flight back to Seattle.

Everyone fell silent as Nigel and another man I didn't know walked onto a small platform at the front of the room. The new man picked up a microphone and introduced himself as Mark. He was one of the men who would be directing the show behind the scenes and he was there to talk about the flow of the show. Everyone already knew how it would work but we all sat on the edge of our seats and listened anyway.

The next five rounds of the competition would be run by the different choreographers who worked for the show. We would go as a large group and work with a different choreographer each day, learning a new style of dance each time. At the end of the day that choreographer would talk with the judges and anyone they didn't like would get kicked off.

After five different styles, everyone left would perform for the judges and they would pick the top twenty dancers who would then go on to dance for the coveted title of "America's favorite dancer"... and the cash prize of $200,000. ...and the car, don't forget the brand new car. This year the winner would be getting a 2009 Volvo. We saw a picture of it. It was shiny, fast, and silver and I could just picture myself behind the wheel.

The Choreographers were set up in studios at a building across the street from the hotel. Everyone was to meet there tomorrow morning after breakfast at 8:30 AM. Once there were only twenty people left, they would move into apartments in the studio for the rest of the filming. Mark introduced Nigel and Mary before passing the microphone over to them.

"Is everyone here ready!?!" Mary asked, screaming into the mic.

I flinched and covered my ears as the rest of the hall erupted into cheers. She was just as loud in person as she was on the show. The "Mary Scream" was a signature move of hers and I could only hope I would hear it after I danced for her.

Nigel and Mary told us all to have fun but reminded us that it was a competition and that we would all have to dance over each other, including the people at our own tables, to get to the prize at the end. No one cheered after that. Everyone was looking around to room, seeing their competition rather than the friends they had just made during dinner.

The dark haired girl who had been offended by my interview shot me a dirty look and I returned it. She turned back to her table and leaned in to whisper to the girl next to her. Soon most of the table was looking at me and I could feel my cheeks burn. I turned back to the platform willing myself not to look at them. I wouldn't have a problem dancing over her when the time came.

After the judges ordered us all to bed, everyone got up and made their way back to their rooms. Angela and the rest of our dinner group opted for the stairs rather than the long line in front of the elevators.

"I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight," Erik said enthusiastically. He was practically bouncing off the walls.

"You better not keep me up." Sam said with a completely straight face. He had done this before and it was clear he was determined to take this more seriously than he had on his last trip to Vegas. We dropped Tanya off at the second floor and I felt an unexplainable jolt of anger when she kissed Edward's cheek good night.

"What floor are you boys on?" Angela asked politely as we headed up to the third floor.

"We're on the fifth floor. Edward and I have the room across the hall from Erik and Sam."

I wasn't paying attention to the conversation anymore. I was to busy internally yelling at myself again. My cheek were red from my unexplainable emotions towards Tanya and I couldn't get my heart to slow back down. My body was not listening to me and this was not the best time for me to lose my concentration.

As we turned to go up another set of stairs, I stubbed my toe and started to fall 'up' the stairs. I knew instantly I wouldn't get my hands up in time and braced myself for the force of the impact, but it never came. Two strong arms snaked around my waist and pulled backwards.

I tried to get my feet under me but they were still tangled and I bumped back into the person who had caught me. Emmett made a grab for us as we wobbled backwards but his fingers just missed the front of my shirt. I grabbed the arms around my waist as we fought for balance but, our combined effort just sent us backwards even harder.

I was surprised when my landing was softer than I thought it would be and instantly felt guilty. My landing had been soft because I hadn't landed on the floor.

"Bella, Edward are you guys ok?"

Edward's arms were still locked around my waist and my checks flush deeper than they had all night. I had fallen on top of him. I tried to sit up and the uneasy feeling grew when I realized I was straddling his chest and I could feel his well defined muscles under my hands. My blush burned my face.

Edward hadn't spoken yet and I was starting to wonder if maybe I had hurt him in the fall. I wasn't that heavy but, I would never be able to forgive myself if I had hurt him so badly that he couldn't audition. I leaned forward and waved my hand in front of his eyes.

"Edward, are you ok."

His brilliant green eyes focused on me and he smirked my new favorite smile. I felt my breath catch in my throat and lost track of where we were. His eyes were such a bright shade of green.

"I told you I would catch you."

Someone started laughing and another set of arms wrapped around my waist. Emmett hoisted me to my feet like I didn't weigh a pound and then pulled Edward to his feet too. Edward and the others started laughing with him and I chuckled nervously. I could dance with a grace most people couldn't but I had always been a clumsy walker. I could trip over air better than anyone else I knew.

"Sorry about that."

He shook his head. "I'm ok." I didn't miss the grimace that crumpled his face as he stretched his back and the feeling of guilt came back in waves. I had hurt him.

"I hurt your back."

He shrugged smiling at me again. "I've had worse."

Emmett thumped his younger brother on the back and Edward grimaced again. "Don't worry about it Bella. He'll be fine." Emmett nodded to the door behind us. "This is your floor right?"

A big black three was painted on the door and Angela was already pulling it open. "Yeah, this is it."

"Good night Bella." Erik pulled me into a hug and Sam made arrangements for everyone to meet back in the dining hall for breakfast.

Emmett playfully punched my shoulder and said good night. Edward flashed me one last smile before turning to follow them up the stairs. He was walking ok so I hoped the injury wasn't too bad. I knew only too well how an injury could limit a dancer's ability.

Angela had the door propped open for me and I locked it behind me after I entered. I pulled my sweat pants and tank-top back on and fell onto my bed. This mattress was softer than my one at home and the pillow had a strangely minty smell to it. I hoped that it wouldn't keep me awake.

I found my cell phone and had six unread messages from home. Five of them were from Summer and one was from my mom. I replied back, apologizing for not doing so earlier, I had intended to wait for Summer's reply so I could tell her all about Emmet and Edward and the stairs and every thing that was going on but I didn't make it that far. My jet lag finally caught up with me and I fell asleep minutes after I had laid down.

I woke up early the next morning, before the sun. By the time I had finished showering and dressing in good dancing clothes, it was still too early to go down to breakfast. I woke Angela up at six and we walked together down to the great hall. The buffet was open and running and dancers filled the hall eating and talking.

We got our food and found Emmett sitting at our table with Erik and Sam. Tanya joined us shortly and she gave me a sour look.

"Where's Edward?" Angela asked as she passed the butter down to Sam.

"I'm sure he'll be here shortly. He was going to your room to see if you were still there."

"Why would he go to our room?" I said shocked.

"So I could walk you to breakfast." A smooth voice answered from behind me. I spun around in my chair and found Edward standing there with his plate of food. He smirked and I ducked my head to hide the blush behind my hair.

"We are perfectly capable of walking to breakfast. How's your back?"

He took the seat next to me and I got another grin. "I'm fine. I told you not to worry about it."

"What happened to your back?" Tanya demanded shooting me an accusing look. I opened my mouth to explain and Edward kicked me under the table.

"I tripped on the stairs last night," he lied smoothly glancing quickly at me before returning to his food. Tanya didn't look like she believed him but couldn't think of a way to argue.

I turned back to my own plate when another voice spoke up from behind me. The voice was an octave higher than Edwards and I recognized its owner immediately from the videos I had of the auditions. The short Jazz dancer from New York was smiling at me and she nodded to the open seat besides me.

"May I sit here?"

"Yeah, go for it."

She slid in next to me and flashed a brilliant smile at everyone. "I'm Mary Alice by the way but if you call me Mary I'll have to kill you and I'll enjoy every moment of it."

"What should we call you then?" Emmett asked, an amused tone to his voice, as he pictured the little girl trying to hurt him.

"Just Alice." She said spooning some eggs into her mouth.

I nodded my head along and smiled at her. I had a feeling we were going to get along just fine. This was someone who would understand why I liked Bella better than Isabella.

"Deal, but only if you agree to call me Bella."

"Isabella is your full name?"

I nodded and she smirked at me, an understanding look to her green eyes. "It's a deal."

I waved around the table and did formal introductions so Alice would know everyone's names. "Alice, this is Edward. The big scary one next to him is Emmett. Then you have Tanya, Sam and Erik and on your left is Angela."

There was a chorus of hellos and good mornings. Everyone ate quickly, eager to get over to the studio. Even though we were an hour early it looked like we were some of the last one's there. A woman directed us to an auditorium and we found a few empty seats towards the front.

"This is so exciting." Alice cheered and she jumped into the seat next to me. "What do you think our first style is going to be?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"I hope its Broadway." Angela admitted. "That's my favorite and I really don't want to get sent home after the first round."

Alice nodded. "I like Broadway too but, I have a funny feeling the first one's going to be something most of us don't know. Something from the bottom of the hat to try and stir things up a little bit. They'll want to make sure that everyone who moves on can handle everything."

Just as Alice finished speaking the lights in the auditorium dimmed and Mark walked on stage. Nigel, Mary and two other people followed him and I felt my stomach drop. Nigel and Mary looked great, they always did, but the two unknown guests looked like they had just stepped out of a 70's movie.

Skin tight, sparkly tops and flair jeans topped off with fake afros, chunky jewelry, and platform shoes. Mark took a microphone and welcomed everyone to the "So You Think You Can Dance Call Backs." He waved a hand over to the unknown people standing on stage with him.

"This is Dan Karaty and David Shant. They will be leading the first round of choreography." He passed the mic over to Dan who stepped up and smiled warmly at all of the dancers in front of him.

"Welcome to the art of Disco everyone."

A collective stunned silence spread throughout the auditorium and I felt my heart pick up its pace. Disco? I had never danced disco before. Edward chuckled at my side and I turned to find him watching my fearful expression.

"The girl who danced to "Baila Baila" is afraid of the disco?"

My cheeks flushed. "You saw my audition?" My audition had gone great. The Samba was a sexy dance and mixing in Hip-Hop only made it worse. I could dance 'sexy' very well if that was the character the dance needed but in the real world I didn't have nearly that much confidence. I didn't want him to get a bad impression of me.

"Of course I saw it. You were fantastic. I look forward to watching you Samba with a partner."

I blushed again. If I was going to get a Samba partner at all during this show I hoped it would be him.

* * *

Lots of love ~Darkrose

LOL! I couldn't resist with the Volvo bit. That was way too tempting.  
I've already got the "top twenty dance" written and I can't wait to show you it so that will encourage me to update faster. First we just have to get through the blood bath of the call backs.

I don't know anything about Disco yet so I have some major research to do if the next chapter is going to be any good. Wish me luck on my quest to become an overnight Disco expert. I even got my mood ring out to help me get in the mood for writing about disco. Please leave a review letting my know what you think.


	5. Disco Fever

I hope everyone's got their mood rings on because it's time to get Funky with a little disco music.

This chapter was written to Everything Bee Gees! My new favorite disco music. Some of my favorite songs by them include "Stayin' Alive" "You Should be dancing" and "Disco Inferno". I was surprised to learn just how many songs I knew that were considered "disco".

Chapter 5: Disco fever

* * *

POV- Bella

Dan Karaty and David Shant talked a little bit about Disco music and where the dance had originated from. They talked about the kinds of things they would be looking for and wished everyone luck before passing the microphone over to Nigel.

Nigel took the microphone and walked to center stage. "Every time you enter this building you are subjected to cameras. Our film crews are going to be all over the place filming the callbacks and then the performances. Try to ignore them unless someone asks you a direct question. As for the first round of callbacks we are going to split you up into two groups and you will work with your choreographer to learn their routines. After a few hours it will be time to perform those routines in front of the judges in smaller groups. Based off your performance and things that we see during practice you may be eliminated from the show, and you will be sent home immediately."

Mary took the mic from him and flashed everyone a big smile. "I'm going to call your name and give you a number. Come up to the stage and get your number card and pin it to the front of your shirt. The groups will be based off your numbers."

She started going down a list of dancers giving everyone a number. Alice and Angela wound up in the thirties. Edward, Emmett, and Tanya were in the fifties. Mary had just started the seventies when I heard her say a familiar name.

"Jacob Black, number 74."

I twisted in my seat to find him, sure that I must have heard wrong. It couldn't possibly be the same person as my Jake back in Forks. A tall boy in the back row got up and started making his way to the front of the auditorium to get his number card. He was a foot too tall and his hair was way too long but he looked just the same as my old best friend.

I had grown up with Jacob Black. He had been the best part of the summers I spent with Charlie in Forks, my sun in that rainy little town. Next to Summer he was my best friend. His dad, Billy Black, was best friends with Charlie so we got to spend a lot of time together.

I had forced him to take a Hip-Hop class with me once during the summer when I stayed with Charlie but I hadn't realized he had continued dancing. In fact I was pretty sure his dad had been upset that I had talked Jake into dancing in the first place.

Jake got his number from one of the crew workers and was heading back to his seat. It just had to be him. His skin was the same beautiful rusty color that my friends had been. But could he really have grown that much in three years? He had to be over six feet tall now.

"What's up?" Alice asked as I stood up and slid past her and Angela.

I nodded over to where Jake was walking back to his seat. My eyes glued to his frame as he sat down. "I think I know him."

Alice and the others followed my gaze to where Jake was sitting.

"Give me a second I'm going to go check." I walked up the aisle and made my way over to him. I tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me-"

He spun around and his jaw dropped. "Bella?"

I nodded. "Jake?"

"Bella! What are you doing here?"

He was on his feet in an instant and I jumped into his arms, locking mine around his neck. "I could ask you the same question. I didn't know you still danced. I was sure you would have stopped after I left that summer."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and spun us in a circle. "It's your fault. I couldn't get enough of those dance classes you made me take and then you never came back to Forks."

"Yeah, Charlie and I sort of had a falling out. This is so cool! I didn't see your audition."

He sat down and I quickly took the seat next to him.

"It didn't air on TV. This is so weird. I would have thought you'd be off at dance school by now."

I rolled my eyes. "Long story, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Bella Swan, number 82." I jumped when Mary said my name and quickly got my number. When I got back to Jake I grabbed his hand and tugged on him to follow me.

"Come over here I want you to meet some of my friends."

He followed me back to the other side of the auditorium and I reclaimed my seat next to Edward. Jake took the seat behind me and I got every ones attention to do introductions again.

"Guys this is Jake. Jake this is Alice, Edward, Sam, Emmett, Angela, Tanya, and Erik." I waved around the group, pointing everyone out as I said their name.

Jake looked kind of taken off guard. "You have a lot of friends. Did you all audition together?"

"Oh, no we met at dinner last night for the most part." I explained.

"Oh, ok" He seemed kind of relieved.

Alice twisted in her seat. "How do you two know each other?"

"I live near Bella's dad. We've known each other since we were both in diapers."

I faked a look offense and gasped. "Excuse me, butI'm pretty sure I had advanced to pull up's by the time you were born Mr. Diaper."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I just remember that my mud pies were always a bigger hit than yours amongst our parents."

"At least I didn't actually eat my mud pies."

He shrugged. "A little dirt never hurt anyone before."

"I'm not so sure about that. You're kind of messed up Jake."

He thought about that for a second and shrugged. "At least I know how to have fun."

"I know how to have fun."

He chuckled and I noticed that the others were laughing at us too. I twisted back around in my seat and looked up at Mary. She was almost done passing out numbers. The two choreographers were standing off to the side talking and I tried to think of some disco music. My I-Pod must have over a thousand songs on it and I was drawing a blank on anything I would consider Disco.

Mary called the last number and a blue eyed, sandy blonde haired boy pinned his number to his shirt. He looked familiar but I was having trouble remembering all of the faces I had seen on the audition tapes. Once he was seated, Mary invited the choreographers forward again.

Dan Karaty took the mic. "Ok, If your number is anything between 1 and 82 you're with me in the first studio." He pointed to the back left door. "It's just out that door and across the hall. The other half of you are going to go out that door." He pointed to the far right. "And you will meet with David in studio two." He watched us for a second and when no one moved he waved his hands. "Go, Shoo, go warm up, we'll start in ten minutes."

I got up and followed the others as we headed towards the left door. Sam and Erik were both in the second group and we wished them good luck before they left. Edward hooked an arm over my shoulders and smirked at me. "Lucky number 82 we almost lost you to the other group as well."

I grinned. "Your loss, now I'm just going to make you look bad."

"Where did all of this confidence come from? You were freaking out a minute ago about having to do disco."

"Oh, I'm still freaking out, trust me. I was just trying to raise my confidence."

He nodded. "I think everyone's freaking out a bit. I was expecting something random but Disco never even crossed my mind."

We walked across the hall and found ourselves in a massive studio. Two of the walls were solid mirrors and the ceiling had to be twenty feet high. The floor was a light pine and the fresh coat of wax was super shiny.

Angela, Alice and I all put our bags in one of the cubbies along the wall and stripped out of our extra layers. Everyone lined up in rows and started stretching. The boys were a few rows ahead of us and we couldn't find an open space next to them.

"We could go over there." Alice pointed back a few rows and soon we were in line with the others on the far side of the room.

I sat on the floor next to Angela and started stretching. Alice sat down on my other side and tapped my shoulder.

"Do either of you know who he is?"

Angela and I followed her gaze to the front row where two blondes were stretching. The first was a girl with perfect features. Her gold hair hung in waves down her back and her slender legs looked sculpted. The second was a boy with honey blonde curls. He was just as beautiful as his sister but a head taller and the muscles in his arms were more defined than his softer sister. I recognized them from the Austin auditions immediately.

"I know them. That's Rosalie and Jasper. They're from Austin, Texas."

Alice smirked and her nose wrinkled. "He's cute."

I chuckled along with Angela as we watched Alice practically drool on herself. I'll be the first to admit the blonde was cute but, as of lately I seemed to have been more attracted to brunettes.

"He's got to be at least a foot taller than you Alice." Angela pointed out.

Alice shrugged us off and stood up to stretch. "Who isn't?"

"You should go say hi." I suggested switching to stretch my other side.

Alice nodded. "I plan to but, I'll wait for the most opportune moment."

"How will you know he'll even want to talk to you?" Angela asked.

Alice smiled to herself and returned to stretching her legs.

"I'll just know. I have a feeling we are going to get along."

I rolled my eyes and Dan entered the room. He had abandoned his disco clothes and looked like any other dance instructor. He moved a few people so everyone was in even lines and put a CD into a large stereo tucked away in the corner.

"I'm sure most of you will recognize our song for today."

He pushed a button and a familiar tune filled the room.

Angela giggled. "I love this song."

"Me too."

_Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk  
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk  
Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around  
Since I was born.  
__Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah Stayin Alive_

Some of the dancers started doing the disco finger move that had no real name and most of the room was laughing. I felt myself relaxing. I had never danced disco before but at least I knew the song. Everyone who hadn't grown up under a rock knew "Stayin Alive". We listened to the whole song and then Dan called everyone to pay attention.

"We will be going to go through the dance a few times slow." He waved two girls who had been standing by the stereo over to his side.

"These are my friends Samantha and Leslie. Once everyone has a feel for the routine they will help me work with you on a more personal level. We will work until lunch and then regroup after you've eaten. We will begin filming at four and then shoot the cuts after dinner."

I felt the nerves set in as he spoke of the first round of cuts. I really didn't want to go home after just one day. Now that I was here, it was clearer to me that this was what I was meant to do. I was supposed to dance and this was my chance to prove it. Not only to myself, but to America.

We spent all morning in the Studio. Even with the air conditioning on the room was steamy and the edges of the mirrors had fogged over. The music we would be performing to was set on repeat and was quietly playing itself over and over.

The routine we would be performing in front of the judges hadn't been as scary as I had first feared. Disco had some similarities to Rock and Roll and I could even find traces of Hip-Hop in some of the moves. The only non-dance comparison I could make was that it looked like we had all stepped out of the movie _Saturday Night Fever_.

I pushed my hair out of my face and leaned my head back against the cold mirror. The room had split into little sections of people and our choreographers were jumping back and forth, trying to make sure everyone knew the routine.

I took a sip from my water bottle and then splashed some of the cold water on my forehead. I had the moves of the dance down. Memorizing routines had always been a strong point for me. What I couldn't do as easily was put emotion to this dance. I hadn't been born in the fifties and my knowledge of our Country's history at that time was bleak.

The only things I could remember from history class was that the fifties had been when racial segregation had finally been ruled unconstitutional. Our Country had been repairing itself after World War II, drugs were on the rise amongst young people who didn't know the health concerns, and Alaska and Hawaii joined up to give us an even fifty states.

I had never really given too much thought on politics. There hadn't been a Presidential election since I turned eighteen and I didn't care what the government was doing as long as they didn't ban dancing.

A pair of feet stopped next to me and I could hear another person sliding down the mirror to sit next to me. I peeked up through my hair and Edward smiled over at me.

"You look beat."

I shrugged and took another sip from my water bottle. "I'll live. You look pretty worn out yourself."

He nodded. "Maybe a little bit, but I'll deny saying that if you tell Emmett."

He was stained with sweat just like the rest of us but somehow his hair was still in perfect disarray. I had tugged my hair up into a pony tail hours ago and it was still trying to cling to my face. I glanced across the room where Emmett, Jake, and Angela were working. Emmett didn't even look phased by the long rehearsal. He was laughing and even though I couldn't hear his voice I could tell he was cracking a joke.

"Looks like he's having fun."

Edward nodded. "He is. I'm just worried he'll get kicked out if he doesn't take this more seriously. There's a lot of good dancers here and Emmett's not good with having competition. He's very competitive."

"I think he'll be ok. You both looked like you were getting the moves down."

He chuckled. "Yes, John Travolta would be proud of my mad dance skills." We laughed.

The music stopped and Dan clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. I jumped to my feet and Edward followed me up.

"Ok everyone it's time to break for lunch. You can head back over to the hotel and eat. We'll meet back here at one."

I pulled my extra clothes back on and met up with the others in front of the building. Everyone looked kind of worn out except for Emmett. Emmett just looked hungry and he was eyeing the hotel across the street.

"Come on you guys let's go eat." He turned and started walking away.

"What about Alice? Is she coming with us?" Angela asked.

I glanced around the group. Jake, Erik and Sam had all started to follow Emmett. Tanya and Edward were standing by Angela and our smallest member was no where to be seen.

"She can find us back at the hotel." Emmett said trying to persuade us to move forward.

I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave her behind but eventually we ran across the street and headed to lunch. The hotel lobby was full of dancers heading for the great hall. We fought our way into the lunch room and I sat down at our table without going for food.

"Aren't you hungry Bella?"

"I'll wait for the line to go down."

Edward sat down with me and Tanya followed him. Emmett shrugged and headed for the buffet. I waved the others off and they followed him. I didn't have the patienceto wait in line.

Edward tapped my shoulder, then pointed over to the door. "There's Alice." I followed his finger and had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

Tiny little Alice practically danced through the door hand in hand with Jasper. She was smiling and together they crossed the room to the buffet. I watched them go through the line and then take a seat on the opposite side of the room with Jasper's twin sister.

"I don't think she's sitting with us." Edward said.

I nodded. "She was talking about him all through rehearsal. She was quite confident that they would get along."

Alice glanced over at us and I waved. She smiled at me and wiggled her eyes brows. I chuckled and nodded. She would rejoin us later and with any luck she would bring her new friends with her. We could make room at our table.

"She'll talk to us later."

Edward raised an eyebrow at me. "How do you know that? She looks pretty happy over there to me."

"I can speak girl sign language."

He shrugged. "Ok."

"It looks to me like those two are going to be distracted for the performance tonight. Maybe they'll screw up and get kicked off." Tanya said as she eyedAlice with distaste.

Edward shot her a disapproving look. "Tanya that's incredibly-"

"True." She interrupted ending his sentence for him.

He scowled. "I was going to say rude."

She shrugged. "But it is true Edward. Alice is good and you saw those blondes on TV. If we could get rid of them it would make our chance to get to the top that much easier. Everyone is competition."

I hadhad enough of Tanya for one day. I got up and started making my way over to the lunch buffet. The more I got to know Tanya the more I disliked her as a person. She was arrogantly cocky and definitely not the kind of person I would willingly hang out with off the show. The unfortunate side was that I didn't want to be mean to her. She was Edward's friend and I was afraid pushing her away would make him leave too.

"Bella."

I stopped in line as Edward grabbed a plate and joined me. "I'm sorry about Tanya."

"It's not your fault. I just can't stand it when people wish others bad luck just to get themselves ahead. If Tanya doesn't think she can beat them fairly then she shouldn't be here."

"She's really not a bad person, I promise. She just tends to think of herself first and she's definitely not afraid to let others know what she thinks."

I nodded. "I can see her logic if I think about. Alice is good and they definitely pose a problem to us getting into the top twenty. I guess I just think of Alice as a friend already. It probably wasn't a smart move on my part to get so attached to my competition. For all I know I could be the one going home tonight.

"I don't think you have to worry about going home."

My cheeks flushed slightly and I busied myself with the buffet so he wouldn't see. "You don't know that. I've never danced Disco before. Anyone of us could get kicked off."

He nodded. "True, but I have a feeling you're going to be fine. You have a very natural feel to you when you dance. It's really hard not to love it when you dance."

My cheeks flushed deeper red and he smirked. "You're also the only person I know who can turn red that fast."

We grabbed our drinks and headed back to the table. The others were already waiting and Tanya had gone up to get her food. When I sat down Angela grabbed my arm.

"Bella did you see Alice?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I saw her." Angela giggled. "That's so funny. It's like she knew it was going to happen.

We ate quickly and soon we were back in the studio getting our butts kicked. Dan caught every mistake and wouldn't let up until you fixed it. The routine was only three minutes long but the speed made it feel like running a marathon. I had always thought I had good stamina but dances like this made me question how hard I practiced outside of the studio. I was going to have to run more often. I hated running, I usually ended up tripping over my own feet.

There was no wardrobe to worry about and that seemed to be the only silver lining in this just being a one day thing. We had been working all day and it was almost time for the filming to start. We would be performing in groups of ten and then we would have to wait all through dinner while the judges deliberated over who would go home.

The first ten dancers got on stage and the song we had been listening to all day started playing over the loud speaker. Group after group performed the routine we had all been working on. It was easy to pick out the ones who stood out.

Alice was tiny but her size wasn't the only reason your eyes naturally followed her. She was charismatic and put a ton of energy into her dance. Angela was the opposite. Her grace in even the quickest of moves made her breathtaking.

Edward, Emmett, and Tanya were all in group seven and I couldn't pick which one I wanted to watch more. Emmett's size was almost comical as he did the disco finger move and put Elvis to shame with his pelvic thrust. Edward was beyond amazing. You could tell none of them had ever danced Disco before but they each had a flare to them. Tanya shone as well even if I didn't want to admit it. She brought a lot of power to her performance and easily dominated her part of the stage.

Jake was in group seven and I was pretty bummed out when I didn't get to see his show. I was with the rest of group eight backstage warming up. I ran through the moves in my head and pushed everything else out. I was sure Jake would do fine and I tried to forget that the rest of the dancers were sitting in the auditorium watching.

Eventually group seven was dismissed and my line walked out. I recognized the boy to my right but all of the other dancers had been in the second group. The lights dimmed and we all struck an opening pose of our choosing.

I chose to stand with my back to the audience and my hands on my hips. If I was going to do the finger pointy thing and thrust my hips I was going to do my damndest make it look good. I still wasn't sure about the emotion I should portray in this song but, when in doubt go with confidence and make the judges think you're having fun.

The music started and I spun on my heels walking forward with the rest of the line. I swung my hips and tried to give my walk the attitude I would use in Hip-Hop.

_Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,  
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.  
Music loud and women warm.  
I've been kicked around since I was born.  
And now it's all right - it's O.K. -  
And you may look the other way._

_We can try to understand the New York Times' effect on man.  
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,  
You're stayin alive, stayin' alive._

We spun and slid to the left hitting the finger point on the down beats. The lights flashed every color in the rainbow and then some as we spun back around and each tried to pull the attention of the judges on ourselves. It was a high energy song and I half expected a disco ball to drop from the ceiling.

_Feel the city breakin' and ev'rybody shakin'  
and we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.  
Ah, ha, ha, ha, Stayin' Alive._

I found it hard not to sing along with the chorus as I shook my butt and spun with the rest of the line. This routine had wound up being easier than I had thought it would and I found that I really was having fun. I would never make a living off Disco but it was nice to know I could survive three minutes of it.

_Well now, I get low and I get high  
And if I can't get either I really try.  
Got the wings of heaven on my shoes  
I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose.  
You know it's all right, it's O.K.  
I'll live to see another day._

We got high and then dropped low with the lyrics. The girl on my left from the other group spun too early and I had to side step her so we wouldn't run into each other. It took me a few beats to get back on count and then I spun with the rest of the group. I bit my cheek and pulled all of my extra focus back on my moves. I hoped the judges wouldn't count that against me but from what I had heard they were ruthless when it came to call backs.

_We can try to understand the New York Times' effect on man.  
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,  
You're stayin alive, stayin' alive.  
Feel the city breakin' and ev'rybody shakin'  
and we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.  
Ah, ha, ha, ha, Stayin' Alive.  
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help me.  
Somebody help, me, yeah.  
Life goin' nowhere. Somebody help, me, yeah._

On the last big note everyone struck another pose and the lights flashed. It was all over. I had my Disco finger in the air and I was trying to get my breathing under control. The audience clapped, as we had for every round and the judges scribbled notes on their cards. They didn't say anything before dismissing us and calling the next group on stage.

We trooped off stage and I snagged my water bottle off the floor. I couldn't think of anything I would have changed and hoped for the best. Our growing gang was sitting together in the middle and Angela waved me over to an open seat as the next group was getting ready.

"Good job Bella. That was really awesome." Jake said enthusiastically punching my shoulder.

I shrugged, still kind of down about getting off count. "But I got off in the middle. I bet the judges bring that up."

"That wasn't your fault Bella they can't cut you for that." Edward said.

Sam leaned forward and put his arms on the back of my seat. "Don't count on that. The judges will look for any excuse to cut someone this early in the callbacks."

"Wouldn't it be just terrible if you got eliminated for someone else's mistake?" Tanya said in her false honey sweet voice.

"I don't think they will." Angela said rubbing the back of my hand comfortingly.

We watched the rest of the performances pointing out dancers who stood out and whispering under our breath. A boy in the twelfth group tripped and knocked not only himself but two others to the ground. Once the judges had seen everyone we trooped back across the street in a mass group and poured into the dining hall.

"So how many do you think will get the boot tonight?" Jake asked over a spoon full of potatoes. Emmett was face first in his own plate. Angela shrugged her shoulder and I poked at my food. For as hungry as I should have been, I couldn't talk myself into eating.

"Probably a lot. Tonight will be the biggest number." Sam said poking at his own food. At least I wasn't the only one not eating.

"You should eat something Bella." Angela pointed out passing me the basket of rolls.

I shook my head. "I'm too nervous. Eating is probably not the best idea right now."

"She's right Bella your going to need your strength for the second round. If you pass out, the judges will definitely kick you out." Sam said nodding to my untouched plate.

"Don't worry about it Bella. You did great today Bella. If you don't make it to the next round the rest of us don't stand a chance." Edward said grinning at me.

I knocked on the wooden table. "Don't jinx yourself."

"You believe in luck?"

I nodded and held up the gold coin around my neck. "Yep, this is my lucky coin. You don't mess with Karma or it'll bite you in the ass."

He shrugged and stuck a piece of food in his mouth.

"You don't believe in good luck?" I asked forcing a piece of food into my own mouth.

"I've always thought you need to make your own good luck. Luck is all about chance and getting lucky. I would rather know that I was in charge of my own life rather than leaving it up to spirits."

I managed to get most of my plate down and was regretting it as soon as we walked back into the auditorium. Once everyone was sitting down Nigel and Mary walked on stage with Dan and David. The cameras turned on and crew members in black were leading the first set of ten onto the stage.

The judges pointed out a few people who had done a good job and three of the dancers were asked to leave for various reasons. Alice and Angela got up on stage with their group and both got good marks from the judges. Only one boy from their group was dismissed.

Group after group walked back on stage and received the judge's comments. Emmett got good marks but Mary suggested that he never take up Disco as a profession. I bit my cheek and held my breath as three more people from their group were let go. Edward had made it through.

I cheered with Alice as both Rosalie and Jasper got on to the next round and sat on my hands while the judges talked to Jake. He got through and it was my turn to go on stage. The judges were sitting in their booth in front of the stage and I was going to kick Sam if I had to see my dinner again as my stomach flipped nervously.

Mary and Nigel talked to each person going down the line. The girl next to me started crying when they asked her to leave for her mistake and my ears were ringing when the spot light moved to me. Don't panic, don't panic.

"Bella Swan?"

I stepped forward and nodded. Mary smiled "Have you ever danced Disco before?"

"No"

"Could have fooled me."

Nigel took the mic. "If I was going to give you any criticism it would be balancing your upper body with your lower. You tend to lead with your hips and put a lot of emphasis in your heels. Your arms and chest are just as important as the rest of your body."

I nodded and the back of my neck prickled. "Yes Sir."

"Amy Randof?"

The girl next to me stepped forward and smiled.

"Yes"

I let out the breath I had been holding and quickly returned to my spot. I had made it to the next round. I was going on to round two! Amy got hit by the judges pretty hard and soon both of the spots next to me were empty. I forced myself to take a few deep breaths and calmed my racing heart.

Erik and Sam broke into a dance when they got to the next round and by the end of the night forty one people, including the dark haired girl from Phoenix who hadn't liked me, were asked to leave. Mary and Nigel talked to the cameras for a bit. Filming things that they would need for when these Callbacks aired on TV.

Angela and I both took short showers once we got back to the safety of our hotel room and I fell asleep as soon as I laid down for the night wondering what the judges could possibly throw at us tomorrow.

* * *

~Darkrose  
Wow that was a lot harder than I thought it would be but I'm happy with how it turned out in the end. If anyone knows the proper name for the "Disco finger thing" I would love to know it. I looked all over the place but that particular move doesn't seem to have a real name, everyone just knows what it is.


	6. Tango Trouble

This chapter was written to "libertango" I'm not sure who plays it buts it's a very traditional Tango song. Not a ton of lyrics but lots of cool Violin and guitar.

As always I greatly appreciate your reviews to make sure something I write isn't too far outside the box. Let me know what you think and if you feel I am staying true to the base personality of the different characters even if their not perfect. (Bella's a dancer obviously their a little different)

A shout out to the Harry Potter Six movie! I saw it a midnight with my friends. It was awesome! They missed a bunch of the smaller details but we all knew that was going to happen. I think the girl who plays Tonks is my new favorite person. I love her character in the books.  
"Go Tonks!"

Chapter 6- Tango Trouble  


* * *

POV: Bella

The next morning felt just like the first had. I got up, took a shower and woke Angela up. We got to the great hall early again. The same feeling of tension and excitement was there but it felt doubled somehow. No one was able to over look the extra empty chairs. When we had first arrived the great hall had been almost full. No one wanted to be the empty chair.

I grabbed my food with Angela and we found the others already at our central table. Alice was still on the other side of the room sitting by her new blond obsession. I took the only empty seat next to Erik.

"Morning."

There were mumbled good mornings and hi Bella's. Everyone seamed to be particularly tired this morning.

"Did you sleep well Bella?" Edward asked passing Angela and I a pitcher of orange juice. I shrugged and filled my glass.

"Ok, I've always been an eerily riser but lately it's been ridicules. I can't seam to sleep past 5 anymore."

Emmett grunted. "Then you can keep Edward company and get him out of our room in the morning."

"Did I wake you?" Edward asked innocently.

Emmett growled at him then turned to face the rest of us. "He gets up before the sun and turns the light on. How am I supposed to get my beauty sleep if the lights are on?"

"It was only a lamp." Edward said defending himself.

"What every your doing at that ungodly hour you can do it in the dark tomorrow." Emmett said trying to end the conversation.

"I can't read in the dark Em. I'm not a cat."

Tanya set her glass down a little harder then necessary interrupting the comment that Emmett had been about to make. "Would you both shut it?"

"He always gets up so early. That's why we stopped sharing a room when we were kids." Emmett argued pointing a finger at Edward.

Angela was giggling at my side and I was having trouble not joining her. It was easy to see the brotherly bond between Emmet and Edward when they bickered liked this.

"We only shared a room for a week. Then you decided to move out." Edward pointed out returning to his plate.

Tanya shied and rubbed at her temples. Everyone seamed to be a little sore after yesterdays long schedule and I would have been willing to bet it would only get worse until the top twenty were decided. If any of us even made it that far.

There was a lag in the argument and Erik jumped in trying to change the topic of conversation.

"So what dance style do you think they'll hit us with today?"

I shrugged and turned my attention back to my bacon. My small diner yesterday was starting to affect me and breakfast was looking better and better by the minute.

"Could be anything." Angel said.

"Can't be much worse then Disco." Sam added.

"It could be a lot worse then Disco." Erik argued back.

"How?"

"It could be the Quick Step or Ballroom." Erik shivered at the thought.

Tanya's head whipped up at the mention of Ballroom. "I certainly hope they do Ballroom dancing for the call backs. We wouldn't have any trouble getting through that round would we Edward?"

She turned to Edward expectantly and he smirked over at me. "I believe you just jinxed us Tanya."

Tanya rolled her eyes and shot me a disapproving look as she tore her muffin into tiny peaces.

"What happened to you not believing in luck?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I got here didn't I? I must be pretty lucky if I'm getting the shot to be on the show. We all must have some luck."

"You got here on talent." Tanya said scowling at her plate. "We worked out butts off for that audition. We deserve to be here."

The rest of breakfast passed quickly. The closer we got to the auditorium the more energy seamed to return to our group. It was even easier to feel the missing dancers in the auditorium. We didn't have any trouble getting seats up front and there seamed to be a foreboding atmosphere around the room.

"You could cut the tension in this room with a knife." Jake said as we sat down.

"Everyone's starting to feel the competition." Edward agreed.

"It's starting to feel the same as it did last time." Sam said glancing around the room. His shoulders were tight and he rubbed at his neck like it was bothering him. Sam had been cut after the second round his first time trying to get on the show. I could only imagine what he would be feeling right now.

The lights dimed ever so slightly and the camera crews dressed in black started scrambling around. Nigel and Mary walked on stage and they were followed out by a man in an ironed black tuxedo. Nigel and Mary stepped aside and a spot light fell on the man. The lights dimed even more and a soft piano started playing over the speakers.

The curtain shook and a moment later a girl dressed in a long red dress spun on stage. Her dress had a plugging neck line and her heels added three inches to her height. Together they twisted across the dance floor and a violin added to the music.

"It's the Tango." Tanya said softly under her breath. Sam and Erik groaned. Jake looked speechless and Edward flinched.

"Ballroom, Tango."

The man pulled a rose out of his coat and tossed it to the girl. The dance was slow and elegant and when they ended the room burst into applause. Both of the dancers took bows and then the lights returned to normal.

Mary screamed into the mic and announced that indeed we would be dancing the Tango for day two of callbacks. The room seamed to have mixed feelings about the tango. Someone cheered and others ground. I wasnt sure how to respond.

Nigel told us to suck it up and then announced that we would be working in two different groups again until the numbers were lower.

"Were going to mix the numbers up today so anyone with a number between 1and 60 or 140 and 164 will be in studio one with Jerrod." He waved the man in the tuxedo forward. "If your number falls anywhere in the middle you are group two and you will work with the beautiful Linda."

Jake grabbed my hand as we all stood up to leave. "I guess that means were in group two." I glanced back at the others as they headed towards studio one. Tanya shot me a satisfied look and wrapped her arm around Edward.

I waved good bye and wished them good luck.

"Why do you look so bummed Bella. It's not like your never going to see them again. We can all meet up for lunch again." Jake said trying to lift my sour mood.

I nodded along and tried to push away the strange feeling that was growing in the pit of my stomach. I had to try and distance myself from the competition anyway. Getting to close could be dangerous.

I didn't recognize most of the people in this group. Jake and I striped off our extra layers and got in line with the rest. I sat on the floor to stretch and started taking deep even breaths. I didn't recognize Linda when she entered the room.

She had abandoned her long red dress but her dark black hair was still twisted into a super tight bun on the back of her neck. She put a CD in a stereo that was identical to the one in studio one and pushed play.

I had never heard the song that started playing before but I could defiantly feel the Tango vibe from it. The entire song was in 2/4 and there were some lyrics at the end right before the song ended. Linda clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"First things First, I want everyone to find a partner. This routine needs two people so you will perform in pairs."

I turned to grab Jake and a girl with white blond hair jumped between us. I tried to get around her as she asked him to be her partner but someone tapped my shoulder. I spun around and a boy with sandy blond hair smiled down at me. He had big blue eyes and too much hair jell weighing down his natural curls.

"Would you do me the honor of being my partner?"

I glanced back over at Jake and he shrugged hopelessly as the girl with white blond hair dragged him away. Most of the room seamed to be partnered already so I turned back to face my blue eyed friend.

"Sure, why not." I held out my hand. "My name's Bella."

His smile widened and he kissed the back of my hand. I repressed a shiver.

"Names Mike, Mike Newton."

Each pair got back in line and Linda started showing us her routine slowly. The moves were slow and it wasn't hard to find the right emotion for this dance. The Tango was elegant, clean, and passionate. It was one of the most common Ballroom dances and also one of the easiest to screw up. If both partners didn't complete devote themselves to the dance it just ended up looking cheesy.

The dance started with some simple Tango steps, a slid to the left and then a half lift. The lift was simple but kind of tricky. I had to hook my leg behind Mike and rest my weight on his hip so he could spin us around while I was in the air. My job was to make the move look graceful while Mike had to make it look easy.

After the spin he set me down and I twisted three times and tripped over his foot. I tried to grab a hold of him but he's hand slipped out of mine and I fell.

"Ow." I landed on my back and hit my head on the floor. Mike grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

"Are you ok Bella? I'm sorry."

I nodded and sucked a breath through my teeth. There was a sharp pain in the back of my head and it took me a second to find my balance again.

"I'm ok Mike. Just remember to twist left before you turn right so I can get back in front of you." He nodded and we started the routine over.

By the time Linda dismissed us for lunch we could do most of the dance without tripping over each other. I had more bruises on my legs and butt then I could count but, at least we would be able to make it through the call back.

I ditched Mike in the dressing room and ran across the street to the hotel. I got through the buffet line and was first to our table. Jake soon joined me and he was scowling. I had watched him during practice and understood his frown. He and his partner had been tripping over each other almost as much as Mike and I had. The only benefit for Jake was that it was his partner who was falling and not him.

"What's her name?" I asked as the white blond haired girl waved at him from her table.

"Amber." He said shortly as we watched her Amber turned and whispered to her friends and they giggled to themselves. "What's the name of your disaster?"

"Mike."

He chuckled. "I lost count of how many times you fell on your ass."

"I stopped counting after forty."

He nodded over my shoulder. "Here come the others. Lets hope they had a better time with it."

I twisted in my seat and winced when my tail bone bumped the back of the chair. Tanya was glowing as she led the others through the buffet line. Jake leaned across the table and lowered his voice.

"Edward looks pretty ticked off."

I nodded, I had noticed his scowl too. If Tanya was glowing then Edward was glowering. He followed the others through the buffet and sunk into his seat when they reached us.

"Are you ok Edward?"

He shied and smiled at me. "I'm ok Bella." I wasn't fooled for a second. The smile hadn't reached his eyes and he was poking at his food.

"Bella how did your Tango go?" Angela asked taking the open seat to my left.

"It was fine." I lied trying not to wince as pain shot up my back again.

Jake snorted. "Pleas Bella don't lie to them. Your partner has two left feet and your going to be wincing like that for a week to recover from those bruises."

I shot him a dark look and Angela started panicking. "Is he that bad? You don't think he'll get you sent home do you?"

"What happened? Who is he?" Erik asked glancing around the room as if one of the other dancers would be wearing a sign around his neck that said "I'm Bella's Partner the moron."

"Are you hurt?" Edward asked and he laid his hand over mine.

I shot Jake another dark look as the questions I had been hoping to avoid started. I shook my head and tried to put on a brave face. "I'll be fine really. It's just a few bruises."

Jake mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "A few hundred bruises" and I kicked him under the table.

"So who did you guys partner with?" I asked trying to turn the attention away from me.

"I'm dancing with Edward of course. Ballroom is our best style." Tanya said grabbing Edward's hand. Edward frowned at her.

"Yes we are trained in Ballroom but you didn't have to be so obvious about it."

"I don't know what you're talking about Eddie." Tanya said innocently flashing him a soft smile.

"Don't call me Eddie." He snapped. "You knew exactly what you were doing and now we have enemies."

Tanya blew her bangs out of her face and rolled her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with proving that you've got talent."

"You were showing off and making the other dancers look bad."

"They were bad." Tanya interrupted.

"Hey!" "Watch who you're sitting with!" Erik and Sam both flashed Tanya identical scowls and she brushed off their reaction.

"There's nothing wrong with proving to the competition that's were going to be hard to beat."

"I though I was doing ok" Angela said softly and she avoided making eye contact with me when I looked over at her.

I shot Tanya one of my own dark looks and patted Angela shoulder trying to comfort her. "I'm sure you did great Angela who are you partnered with?"

She smiled up at me and picked at her food. "His name's Ben. He's from Boston. We clicked right away. It's so easy to dance with him." Her mood seamed somewhat repaired and she told me all about her new friend, Ben.

Lunch was over as soon as it began and a part if my self preservation was telling me not to go back to studio two. I rubbed my back and glanced at the door. I was trying to talk myself into walking forward when a pair of larger hands replaced mine and started massaging my neck.

"Sore?"

I shied and let my head role forward as Edwards hands worked their way down to my shoulders. I was sore, and for some reason I knew he hadn't been fooled but my attempts to hide it at lunch. I had never been a good actress.

"Maybe a little bit."

He chuckled. "You're incredibly stubborn you know that right?"

"I've been told that before."

His arms worked their way down from my shoulders and he squeezed my hands. "Good luck with Mike, Bella. I have a feeling your going to need it."

I shivered as his warm breath tickled my ear and then he was gone. By the time I pulled myself together and turned around he was slipping into Studio one. I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath. Some of the tension was gone and I was ready to kick Mike's butt until we were perfect.

I found Mike waiting for me in the back of our studio and we stretched together and made up a work plan for what parts of the routine we still needed work on.

"We need to get that last lift right." Mike insisted.

"We're not going to work on the lift until we know how to do the landing. My ass is sore enough from falling all morning."

"I am sorry about that Bella. Tango is obviously not my leading style."

"What is your style Mike?"

He smiled. "I like Broadway and fifties dance. I'm really good at those later styles."

We started at the beginning of the dance and managed to get to the last lift before Mike twisted the wrong way and I steeped on his foot.

"Ow, wait. You go left first."

"No I go right first."

"We go right after the lift."

Linda hurried over to our side. "Can I help?"

I pulled my hair out of my face and tied it behind my head. I was now on a first name basis with the floor in studio two and any help she could give us would be a dream come true. Linda offered me her hand and pulled me to my feet again.

"Can you go over the last lift with us?" Mike asked.

Linda nodded. "Yes I can. Why don't you start at the beginning and I'll walk you though the whole thing slowly. Then I can show you the lift."

We started at the beginning with the traditional Tango steps. Mike spun me back into his side and I hooked my leg around his waist for the first lift. He spun us twice and then I swung in front of him and spun away.

We got though the kicks in the middle and a bunch of smaller moves. Mike was leading as we danced across the floor. The music picked up at the same time Mikes hand hooked around my waists for the second lift. I stepped right, he moved left, and his arm that was still wrapped around my waist pulled me off balance. I stumbled but managed to stay on my feet.

Linda showed us the last few steps and as it turned out, we were both wrong. Before the lift we were supposed to turn our backs on each other and dance back to back. We tried the move a few times and had to find a balance so that neither one of us was pushing to hard on the others back.

"There just like that, very good."

"Ok Mike, lower your hand." Linda guided us as we ran through her choreograph.

"Bella you've got to help him on the lift. Put your hand on his shoulder until you're in the air."

"No Mike that's too high! Bella hold on!"

I hit the ground again harder then before. The only satisfaction I had in my fall was that my legs had been wrapped around Mikes shoulders so he had fallen to. Mike groaned and we pulled ourselves back up. I had jarred my left shoulder and added a new layer of bruises to my hip but I was more determined then ever not to let this be the reason I got sent home.

I grabbed Mikes hand and set us up to run the second lift again. "Are you ok?"

He nodded and I didn't give him a chance to speak.

"Good Lets do it again." My question had been completely selfish. I did care if he was ok but I really didn't want him lifting me if he had hurt his shoulder. Linda counted us off again and we moved into the lift.

Mikes hand hooked around my waist and I spun into his side. His second hand grabbed me and I pushed off from the ground. I used his shoulders to balance myself as I got in the air and soon I was perched on his shoulder.

"We did it Bella!"

My right knee was tucked behind his head and my left leg was hanging in front of his chest. I had one hand on my hip and one hand tangled in his hair so I wouldn't fall. It was kind of an awkward position, seeing as how I didn't know Mike that well, but I had been in odder scenarios then this before. Dance partners got to know each other very well.

"Ok, now you have to do the fall. Bella you need to trust Mike or its not going to work." Linda seamed confident in us but I was feeling some doubt.

I took a deep breath and nodded slowly. Linda showed Mike how to get me down and I watched her and her partner do the move. In essence it was very simple. Mike would hold my left thigh to his chest and I would twist my right side over his head and almost role down his chest. He would catch me in a cradle position and the song would end.

Mike and I practiced the lift a few more times: Back to back, spin out, twist back in, anchor around my waist, hands on shoulders, and lift. Once Linda was sure we had the full lift it was time to practice the fall.

"I got you Bella, go."

I didn't give myself a chance to think about it. Mike was holding my leg and I rolled down. I felt one of his arms follow my left leg down and wrap around my knees and the other hooked under my right arm and kept me from smashing my head against the floor.

The finally pose was my favorite in the whole dance. My left side was tucked into Mike and my right leg was sticking up over his shoulder. I was completely off the ground and if he dropped me he was a dead man.

One of the camera men came and talked to Linda then she ushered us all into the main auditorium. It was time to film the second round. Dancers from studio one were sitting down and Mary was talking into the camera on stage. The callbacks wouldn't be airing for almost a week and by the time America got to see who the top twenty were we would be working on week one's dances.

I wasn't sure how they got a list put together but Mary had a list of what order everyone was dancing in and I felt my hart drop when I learned Mike and I would be going first…surprise!

A crew man led us back stage and would cue us when it was time to go. I pulled a black ballet dance skirt over my leggings and Mike had a clean black shirt on. It had been Mike's idea to bring matching colored clothes and I was oddly impressed. I hoped the judges would think so to.

The judges talked a little to the camera and Linda and Jerrod explained the piece they had choreographed. The judges announced our names and the lights dimed. Mike led us on stage and we took an opening pose. Mike was standing front stage and I was waiting for him to come get me in the back.

The music started and Mike spun on the first note. He walked over to where I was waiting and ran his hand down my arm, waking my character up. I leaned into his chest and our dance began. We were experts at the opening tango walk.

Mike spun me to him and I wrapped my leg around his waist. His arm held me to him as he spun and I leaned a little more into the lift. Mike moved with me and I dismounted into the spin. As we started more traditional footwork I kept my eyes locked on his.

Mike followed my lead as I tried to put more emphasis on our twists and surprised me when he started to get into the dance with me. The Tango was a passionate dance I hoped we were portraying that to the judges.

I pushed my sore mussels out of my mind and focused strictly on Mike. Nothing else mattered right now. We were coming to the final lift and my hundreds of falls seamed more prominent in my sore legs and shoulder. We twisted away from each other and slid to the right, our backs barely touching as we moved together.

Mike took my hand as I spun away from him and pulled me back to his side. I felt his hand wrap around my waist and he leaned in so his lips were against my ear right before the lift.

"Trust me Bella." It was now or never. I had to trust him.

I pushed off from the ground and Mike's hands guided me into the air. I hooked my knee behind his head and we hit the lift. His hand moved from my waist to hold my leg and I rolled down his chest a bet later. We had struggled all day but, in the end I couldn't have asked for a better ending.

Mike caught me on the fall and we ended just a second after the music did. We were both breathing hard and I slipped when he helped me upright but our dance couldn't have gone better for only having a few hours to put it together.

Mike grabbed my hand and we stepped forward to hear the judge's comments. Nigel commented on our lines and said that we had the roots of the style down very well even if it wasn't the cleanest. Mary noticed the extra length we went to on out twists and said that it added a new level to our dance but it was also why we had fallen behind. She also took notice that was had changed and gave us comments on trying to match each other.

The judges I was most worried about was Linda and Jerrod. This was their dance, their baby and we had just tried to dance it. Jerrod had liked the power in our opener and I was relieved that we hadn't trashed his dance. Linda took the mic from him and stared at us.

"What was that?"

I glanced up at mike not sure what she meant.

"You couldn't even do the last lift an hour ago." She glanced out at the other dancers. "That's going to be a hard act to follow. If everyone here is this good I can't wait to see the rest of them. Bring it on."

Nigel dismissed us and we ran backstage as fast as we could. Mike pulled me into a hug once we were off camera and we relished in the moment that our dance was over.

"That was so great Bella."

"Thanks for not dropping me."

He smiled kind of sheepishly. "Be thankful it was a slow dance. I could have dropped you a lot more if it had been something faster."

"I can't wait to see you in the Quick Step."

"You mean the dreaded "kiss of death" dance."

"That's the one."

We chuckled to ourselves and one of the crew workers told us to be quiet and reminded us that the cameras were still rolling. Mike opened the door for me as we reentered the auditorium and we said our good byes. We would meet back up backstage after diner for the cut announcements.

I crossed to the far side of the auditorium and found most of my group watching the next couple on stage. One set of eyes weren't watching the stage and he saw me coming as I made my way down to them.

I took the open seat next to Edward and he smiled at me. "That was great Bella." Something about his smile seamed off but I could tell what it was. I smiled and thanked my friends as they all congratulated me on a job well done. Well everyone except Tanya who looked disappointed that I hadn't fallen on my face.

Angela and Ben were next out of the dancers I knew. Ben was two inches taller then Angela and he had dark black hair. They moved together perfectly, Angela grace and Ben's strength. Next Emmett and his partner danced.

The girl Emmett was dancing with tripped over him twice when she tried to move the wrong way. It was clear that they were both struggling. As they were coming to the last lift the girl twisted the wrong way again. Emmett grabbed her and pulled her back using his brut strength to get her into the air on time and fixed her mistake.

Sam and his partner got through the dance fine but they fell on the last lift. I was surprised on just how many groups missed the last lift. A dozen couples missed the lift all together and more then one girl landed on her backside.

Edward leaned into my side and whispered into my ear. "Alice is next, and you'll never guess who she got to be her partner."

The judges announced Alice and she spun on stage with Jasper. Their height difference was even more predominating on the bright stage and Alice was still a head shorter then him in four inch heels. They must have matched their outfits like Mike and I had because Alice was the only girl in the room wearing a real dress. Jaspers dark red shirt matched the color of the dress and they 'looked' perfect together.

I had expected the height to interfere in their dance. I was wrong. Alice and Jasper were easily my favorite out of all of the couple we had seen and they got great reviews from the judges, along with a few jokes. Apparently Alice was the shortest female dancer to ever make the callbacks and she had chosen to dance with one of the tallest guys in this year's season.

Jake was next followed by Erik. They both got though the routine without dropping their girls but you could tell that ballroom wasn't their thing. The judges announced Tanya and Edward and I heard Emmett groan at my side.

"What?" I asked as Tanya and Edward walked on stage.

"Be glad you were in group two, Bella. It was very hard to be in the same group as them."

I was going to ask why when the music started. It was clear at once, why it would be hard to be in the same group with Edward and Tanya. They were great. It was the only word that fit their dance. Their background in ballroom as well as the trust they already shard between them as a pair put the rest of us to shame.

The judges agreed with me that they had done a fantastic job. Mary said she thought they cheated a little bit, since they already new each other and suggested that they dance with other partners from now on so that the judges could get a better feel for them as individuals but, that they shouldn't worry about getting cut tonight.

The same strange feeling returned to my chest as I watched them move together. Tanya was a great dancer and the whole room could feel the passion in their dance as they moved in perfect sync. Tanya bowed twice before she got off the stage and Edward followed behind her looking uneasy.

Diner passed quickly and it was clear that I was not the only person at our table holding some animosity towards Tanya now. Angela had decided to sit with Ben and his friends and I was feeling strangely envious of her escape. Her seat was being filled by Jasper tonight. Alice had done introductions and Jasper had fit right in with the rest of the table almost at once.

He wasn't a big talker but it was clear he was a big Alice fan. The chemistry between them wasn't limited to the dance floor and there had been more then one time during diner where I had felt like I was intruding on some private conversation even though they weren't speaking out loud.

During the cuts another thirty five dancers were asked to leave including Erik and Jakes partners. Emmett was in shock that the girl he had danced with was still here and I felt a sense of relief that none of my new friends had been sent home.

"She's only here because you made her look good." Sam said trying to pacify Emmett as we walked back to the hotel.

"I should have let her fall on her butt." He grumbled.

I responded to all of Summer's texts once I had finished my shower for the night and actually managed to respond to a few of her new questions before I feel asleep.

* * *

~Darkrose

I'm thinking were going to lose one member of our group in the next round. The next chapter is also going to be a little different. insteed of individual styles there going to do "Random CD routines" I know they've done something like it on the show like it but I can't remember if that's the exact title.

My inspiration for this story has picked up again so I'll probably up date soon. I've been considering the idea of writing some of the chapters from Edwards point of view or even some of the other characters. Let me know what you think about this idea and if I should. Who?

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.


	7. Curveball

This chapter wasn't written to anything particular so just listen to your favorite music while you read it. That's generally what I do. I'll have the rest of round three in the next chapter. I just didn't want it to get ridiculously long so I split it in two.

Let me know what you think. Opinions are always welcomed in my review box.

Chapter 7- Curveball

* * *

POV- Bella

I jumped as someone knocked softly on the door to mine and Angela's room. The glowing green lights coming from the clock said it was only 5:30. I placed my book mark back into my worn copy of Wuthering Heights and peeked through the hole in the door. My breath caught for a moment and I scowled at the strange reaction my body was having. It was just Edward.

I unlocked the door and quickly pulled it aside. Edward was standing in the hallway still dressed in his pajama pants. He was barefoot and the T-shirt he was wearing was two sizes too big. His hair was messier than usual and he looked like he had only just rolled out of bed.

"Edward what are you doing here? Is everything ok?"

He smiled and glanced over my shoulder. "Everything's ok. Emmett kicked me out. I was hoping I could hide in your room until he wakes up."

I covered my mouth with my hand and tried so hard not to laugh out loud at him.

"Did you wake him up again?"

He nodded. "Yeah, then he tossed me into the hall and told me to go bug someone else. He didn't even let me get dressed."

I stepped aside so he could come into the room and shut the door behind him. I was still in my oversized sweat pants and the blue tank top I liked to sleep in. Angela was curled somewhere under her quilt.

"I'm afraid Angela is still asleep."

He nodded. "Then perhaps I should just wait outside. She probably wouldn't be too comfortable with me being in here while she's asleep."

"I'm not going to make you sit out in the hall. She'll be ok. I'll wake her up in a little bit so she can take a shower before breakfast."

"I'm sorry to impose on you like this. I hope I didn't wake you."

His eyes traveled over my pajamas and I could feel the pink tinge on my cheeks. I had a few pairs of nice Victoria Secretpajamas that Summer had given to me but, I had foolishly left them all at home. I didn't generally care what I slept in and this outfit was far more comfortable. I always found it easier to sleep in cotton rather than silk.

I shook my head and pulled one of my zip-up sweat shirts on over my tank-top. I showed him the book I was still holding. "No problem. I've been up for half an hour. I was just reading."

He sat down in the small chair I had been using and I took my book from me. He smiled at the title and seemed to find my choice funny. "You like to read the classics?"

We were talking with low voices so Angela wouldn't wake up. "Yes, Wuthering Heights is one of my favorites."

"This one looks pretty beaten up."

I sat down on my bed and folded my legs underneath me. "It should be, I've probably read it over a hundred times."

"Emmett took my book before he locked me in the hall."

I giggled again. "It's hard to believe your not blood brothers."

"We're brothers in every way it counts. We just don't share any of the same genes."

I leaned against my headboard. "How long have you known each other?"

He sat back in his chair and thought about how to answer before he spoke. I could feel the adoration in his voice as he spoke about his adopted family.

"Carlisle and Esme adopted me when I was six. Emmett is three years older than me and he was already living with them at the time."

He stared at the wall for a while and I hoped I hadn't asked him something to personal. His personal life was none of my busses. "I don't mean to pry, Edward. I was just curious."

He quickly looked back over at me. "No, it's ok. I'm not embarrassed that I'm adopted or anything like that. Carlisle and Esme are the best parents anyone could ask for. Emmett and I are very lucky to have them."

I couldn't resist the chance to ask him more questions. I just hoped he would tell me if there was a question he didn't want to answer. "What are they like?"

He smiled at me and then started to tell me about his parents. "Carlisle's a doctor, probably the best in the state of Washington. He and my mother live in Forks, Washington. You've probably never heard of it, it's a really small tow-"

"No, I do know Forks." I cut him off, unable to believe that another person here knew of the tiny, oddly named town I had been born in. "I was born in Forks. My dad Charlie still lives there."

"You're Chief Swan's daughter?"

I nodded. "That's my dad."

"I don't believe that. Wait until Emmett finds out. I know your dad, he and Carlisle sometimes have to work together."

I asked him about Forks and he filled me in on all the details about the small, rainy town I had stopped calling home a long time ago. His family had moved there from Alaska the same year I had spent my last summer in Forks.

"What about your mom, Esme. What does she do?"

Edward had moved so he was lying across the foot of my bed. It was 6:10 and I was trying to forget that I should be waking Angela up. I found that I didn't want him to leave. He was so easy to talk to.

The love in his voice as he talked about his adopted mother was almost as strong as the respect I could tell he had for his father. They sounded like unbelievable parents. I hoped I would get to meet them sometime.

"Esme is an interior decorator. She spends most of her free time drawing blue prints and knocking parts of the house down."

"Sounds like fun. I bet she's very talented."

He nodded and ran his hand through his strangely reddish, bronze hair. I couldn't think of a proper name for the color.

"She enjoys it. I'm not sure I would like to spend all my time building."

I moved so I was lying on my stomach next to him. "What do you like to do in your free time, other than dance?"

"I like to read and study. I've always had an interest in medicine and school. I spend a lot of my time dancing, Esme turned one of the extra bedrooms in our house into a small studio for Emmett and I to use."

"That's so cool. Does she dance too?"

He shook his head "No, not anymore. She and Carlisle used to dance more but they haven't gone dancing in a long time. I have a picture of her up stairs I'll show you if I ever get back into my room."

I pulled myself to the edge of the bed and hung over the edge. I had forgotten until now that I had a picture of Renee in my bag. I pulled my suitcase out from under the bed and grabbed the picture. I pulled myself back up next to Edward and handed him the photo.

"That's me and my mom, Renee."

He smiled at the picture. "Is this your house in Phoenix?"

"Yep, that's it. We took this picture a few years ago. I was probably six or seven."

"How old are you now?"

I faltered for a second at the unexpected question and he started backtracking.

"I don't mean anything by that. You don't look very old. I was just curious-"

I smiled and interrupted him. "It's ok, I'm not embarrassed about my age. I'm only nineteen. How old are you if you don't mind my asking?"

He smirked at me. "I just turned twenty a few months ago."

The clock on the small table between the beds started buzzing and Angela started wiggling under her covers.

"Oh shoot. I forgot to wake Angela up."

Edward grinned and I had a feeling he knew I had purposely put off waking my roommate up. Angela pulled the covers over her face and then jumped.

"Edward? What are you doing here?"

She sat up quickly and kept her blanket on so it was covering her pajamas. Edward quickly stood up and took a step towards the door. I could tell he was uncomfortable with this situation and he didn't want to make Angela uncomfortable.

"Emmett kicked me out an hour ago. I was just talking with Bella. I'll go see if he's awake now."

I walked Edward to the door. "Don't be afraid to come back if Emmett locks you out again."

"I'll do that. Tell Angela I'm sorry for startling her. I'll see you at breakfast Bella."

I shut the door after I watched him walk to the stairwell and found Angela still sitting in bed.

"I'm sorry I didn't wake you sooner."

She shrugged it off. "I'll be fine." She smiled at me and there was a mischievous glint in her eye that looked more suited to Alice's face than hers. "So what were you _talking_ about?"

She put emphasis on the word talking, like she didn't fully believe that's what we had been doing. I felt my cheeks go red and I hit her with my pillow.

"We were just talking. Emmett kicked him out of their room. He was still in his pajamas. He just didn't want to sit out in the hallway." Her grin didn't falter and I tried to defend myself. "We were _just_ talking."

She nodded. "Of, course you were." She grabbed some clothes and hurried into the bathroom. I waited until I heard the shower start before finding some clothes for me to wear today. I settled for a pair of black leggings and some shorts along with another bright T-shirt.

I was brushing my hair when Angela emerged from the bathroom fully dressed for the day. She had on dance pants with a matching tank-top and her soft brown hair was up in a bun.

"Ready for breakfast Bella?" She asked as she pulled on a pair of flats.

I slipped on a pair flip-flops and followed her out the door.

Emmett was looking much happier at breakfast and he flashed me a big grin when I sat down next to him.

"Did you have a good morning Bella?"

I felt my cheeks go pink and Angela tried to hide her smile by taking a sip of her milk. I did my best to keep my face smooth and not give him the satisfaction he was looking for in my response.

"It was fine Emmett. I'm looking forward to getting to work today."

He chuckled quietly and Edward flashed me an apologetic smile. Tanya seemed to be the only one who caught the double meaning in Emmett's words and she glanced at me confused. I shrugged my shoulders and started paying close attention to the way I cut my pancakes before eating them so I wouldn't have to look her in the eye.

"Yuck, it's raining."

We were standing in the doorway of the hotel staring out at the street. The sky was filled with dark gray clouds as far as the eye could see and it was pouring. I was glad I had kept my sweater on and I tucked my hair into the hood pulling it low over my forehead.

"Let's run for it."

Emmett nodded. "We just need to get across the street."

"You guys aren't afraid of a little rain are you?" Alice asked as she pushed the front door open. The wind blew some of the rain inside and Tanya jumped away from the door.

Alice flashed a grin at Jasper who was standing next to her in the doorway. "I'll race you to the studio."

He nodded and took Alice's hand. "You're on."

They both shot through the door. Jasper easily over took Alice with his long legs but, instead of racing ahead of her, he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder as they ran across the street and ducked into the studio.

Angela giggled. "Aww that was cute." I nodded in agreement.

"Pardon me while I vomit." Tanya said sourly as she shoved the door out of her way, pulled her hood low and started jogging across the street.

"It's the only way." Sam said and soon he, Erik and Jake were all racing out into the rain.

I shot a dark look up at the clouds and Edward chuckled at me. "You really need to visit Forks more often. Eventually you get used to the rain."

"I hate the cold and the wet. That was one of the reasons I stopped visiting Charlie."

He pushed the door open and grabbed my hand. "Afraid to get wet?"

I grabbed Angela's hand and pulled her out after me and we hurried across the street. I slipped on the wet curb and once again missed hitting the ground by inches. Edward pulled me to my feet and ushered Angela and I into the safety of the studio lobby.

"How did you ever become a dancer Bella? You are on gravities hit list." He asked as he shook out his hair, spraying Angela and I with water.

I rolled my eyes at him and shook my jacket so the water droplets got him wet. "Tell me something I don't know."

Crew members in black were passing out towels and trying to dry everyone off. I took a towel and dried myself off as best as I could. The others were busy trying to dry themselves off and eventually we got pushed down the hall as more wet dancers packed themselves into the small lobby.

We piled into the auditorium with the other dancers. Some of the crew workers were busy trying to dry off camera cases and I could see Mary backstage getting her hair redone. It took longer than usual for everyone to get set up but then Nigel and Mary walked on stage.

I wasn't the only one who recognized the third man with them and whispers spread like wildfire around the room.

Alice tugged on my arm. "Oh my god Bella! That's Twitch."

"Yeah, I know. He took second place in season four."

She was bouncing in her seat. "Do you think he's the guest judge today?"

"That would be so cool."

"Do you think we'll get the chance to meet him?" Angela asked.

"I hope so. He's fantastic." Alice said.

Nigel waved everyone to stop talking and the whispers fell silent as all eyes turned to the faces of our judges.

"I'm going to assume you all recognize our guest judge for today's round of callbacks?"

There was mumbled 'no duh's', choruses of 'yes', and someone in the back shouted 'love you Twitch'.

"Today's round is going to be a little different. We're going to give you all a curveball to see how you work together and I'm going to let Stephen explain it better for you."

"What do you think that means?" Erik asked.

"Could mean just about anything." Jake said as we all switched our attention back on Twitch.

Nigel passed the microphone to Twitch and he explained how the next round was going to play out.

"Ok, so instead of working on just one type of dance today we're going to split you into small groups and let you come up with your own dance. You can pick any song you want, do any type of dance you want, basically it's all up to your small group. We're going to start the performances at the same time as we always do so you need to work fast. You will be judged based on your dance style and the creativity of your routine as well as how well you showcase each member of your team. At the end of the day you will be judged as individuals and maybe only one of you goes home, maybe you all go home. That's for us to decide."

He passed the mic over to Mary who started talking about what groups we would be in. "I'm going to draw a name from the hat. Whoever I call will come up here and roll a dice. The number on your dice will determine the number of people in your group. Then that first person will draw the names of their team out of the hat. We'll go until there are no more names."

Mary drew the first name and Jessica Stanly was called onstage. Jessica rolled a three and drew two more names from the hat. Jessica joined her team and Mary pulled another name from the hat.

One by one people got on stage and rolled the dice. Erik ended up in a group of four boys. Sam and Edward wound up in the same group as Mike. Ben joined Jasper's sister, Rosalie along with two other boys and I heard Jasper whisper something to Alice that sounded like "Poor bastards". Emmett was in a group with two girls and he looked only too pleased with those odds.

Mary reached into the hat and called out the next name. "Alice Brandon."

Alice jumped from her seat and hurried up the stairs and onto the stage. She took the dice and rolled it along the small table they had set up. Mary watched the dice as it rolled and when it stopped she announced the number.

"Six, that's the highest number of the night." She held out the hat to Alice and told her to draw five names.

Alice smiled and stuck her hand into the hat. She unfolded the slip of paper and read the names one by one into the Microphone. "Lauren Mallory."

A girl with shoulder length white blonde hair joined Alice on stage as she read the next name. "Angela Webber."

Angela rushed on stage and tried to keep the smile off her face. I was feeling kind of bummed out. I was hoping to get partnered with at least one person I knew but, my new friends were dropping like flies. I was sitting alone with Jasper and Tanya feeling kind of awkward. Jasper didn't speak too much to anyone other than Alice and I really didn't want to talk to Tanya.

Alice reached into the hat again and called another name. "Leah Clearwater."

A girl with skin as dark as Jake's and Sam's walked on the stage to stand with Alice and the other girls. She was the tallest in the group and her long black hair fell in straight sheets down her back. Alice grabbed another name and smiled. "Bella Swan."

I jumped from my seat and joined her on stage with the others.

"Ok Alice, draw one more name. Let's see if we can get our first all female group." Mary held out the hat for Alice to draw one last name. Alice pulled a slip of white paper from the hat and glanced down at the name in her hand.

"Jane Ross."

A girl only a few inches taller than Alice joined us on stage. She had short, mousy, brown hair and dark brown eyes. There was an olive tone to her skin and a childlike roundness to her face. She had long legs and moved almost silently across the stage to stand with the rest of us.

"Ok, here we have it." Mary said happily turning back to the camera. "Our largest group so far and it's all girls. I look forward to seeing how you use that to your advantage."

Mary called the next name and I followed Alice off the stage. We found a small group of open seats and sat down to wait while the rest of the names were called. The girl Mary called on stage was named "Victoria Reed." I recognized her from the audition tapes. She was the red head Summer had put a little sad face next to.

Victoria rolled a four and got both Tanya and Jasper in her group along with another boy whose name was Will. We waited as the rest of the dancers were put into groups and eventually we had the last 88 dancers sorted into thirty groups of various sizes.

Crew members in black led us to places where we could work around the building. Alice was the only one who had rolled a six so we got a small studio to ourselves upstairs. One wall was lined with mirrors and there was a large stereo along the wall. We were given an I-pod attachment so we could choose our own music and everyone was given access to the large prop room.

We all stripped out of our extra layers and sat in a circle so we could stretch and start planning our dance.

"What song are we going to do?" Angela asked trying to get the ball rolling.

"It's got to be something good." Alice started.

"We should use the fact that we're all girls to our advantage." Jane added. "They'll be expecting something different from us, so we have to make sure we live up to their expectations."

There was some mumbled agreement.

"Something sexy," Lauren suggested.

"Something sassy," Leah added as she started flipping through her I-pod.

We tossed song ideas around. Everyone suggested different artists and each song had a different style feel to it. We decided against anything country music and there was an agreement to stay away from classical. We wanted something fast, something fun, and something that seemed to fit the feel of our group. The only thing we seemed to have in common was that we were all girls.

I flipped though my own I-pod and felt the little light come on above my head.

"Bella what are you thinking? You've got this stupid grin on your face."

Alice pulled on my arm and looked at the song I had highlighted on my I-pod. She giggled and was then wearing her own stupid grin.

"That's perfect."

The other girls had listened to our conversation and they were all waiting for one of us to say the name of the song.

"What is it?" Leah asked, kind of annoyed.

I glanced around the room. No one was wearing a wedding ring. I had found one more thing we all had in common other than just being girls. We were all single girls.

Alice took my I-pod and danced across the room to the stereo.

"Hold on one second, I'll put it in."

Alice plugged in my I-pod and the familiar notes of a very fun song started playing throughout the room. This song definitely worked to our advantage and I was sure the judges would like it as long as we didn't blow our dance.

_All the single ladies, all the single ladies  
__All the single ladies, all the single ladies  
__All the single ladies, all the single ladies  
__All the single ladies_

_Now put your hands up  
Up in the club, we just broke up  
I'm doing my own little thing  
you Decided to dip but now you wanna trip  
Cuz another brother noticed me_

I watched the other girl's reactions to my song choice. Jane had a small smile on her face. Leah was tapping her toes and she seemed to agree with Alice and I. Angela smiled at me and nodded her agreement to my selection.

Lauran shrugged. "Do you think this song is sexy enough?" She asked.

"We could make it sexy." Alice said and she started dancing a little on her own.

Jane nodded. "And there are a lot of chances for little solos in it so the judges wouldn't be able to say one girl hogged the spot light."

"I think it's a good choice." Leah agreed. "Lot's of attitude. We could have a lot of fun with this song. It's a party song."

Alice moved into the center of the room. Her eyebrows were pushed together and she looked like she was thinking about something unpleasant.

"Who here has experience in choreography?" She asked. There was the ultimate question. If our dance was stupid, then it wouldn't matter what song we did. The judges would tear us apart without a second thought.

Leah stepped forward. "Better question. Who has experience in group choreography? That's totally different than solo work."

I glanced around the room. No one was speaking up and I wasn't sure I wanted to step into the spot light. If the dance was a flop it would be easy to turn on the choreographer. Eventually I gave in. There was no point in hiding the fact that I had experience in choreography.

I raised my hand. "I've done a bunch of small group dances but, it's always Latin dancing." I said turning my ears back to the stereo. This was the perfect song for our group but it didn't have a Latin feel to it and I was pretty sure I was the only one in the room with a background in Latin dancing.

Jane raised her hand. "I've choreographed a bunch of solos but I don't have much practice in group numbers."

"I've done a few group numbers before." Alice said stepping forward.

"Maybe we should pick a dance style first." Lauran suggested.

"Hip-Hop makes the most sense." Leah stated.

I nodded my agreement. "It's definitely a Hip-Hop dance. I think. The back bass in this song is perfect for Hip-Hop."

"I've never done Hip-hop before, but I'm willing to learn." Angela said.

"Me either, but I pick things up pretty fast." Jane said standing next to Angela.

Lauran smiled. "I mainly dance Hip-Hop so I could help teach them the feel for the style."

"You'll have to show me too. I'm just a jazz dancer." Alice said.

"We definitely need a leader or this is all going to fall apart." Angela said. "Every time they do this the judges tear the groups apart because the dances fall apart. We need to have time management."

Leah agreed "Lauran and I have a back ground in Hip-Hop. Bella you have a background in Hip-Hop and in choreography."

She moved Alice so she was standing next to me and stood next to Lauran. "We can start teaching Jane and Angela some of the basics while you work with Alice. You guys can come up with a rough version of the dance and Alice can get a feel for the style while you work it out. Then we can come together and embellish it. I agree with Angela. We need to be one of the groups that doesn't completely fall on our asses. This would be the best chance to prove to the judges that we belong here."

"That's a good idea," Alice said grabbing my hand and leading me towards the door. "Come on Bella let's talk choreography in the prop room. I have a feeling the judges will be impressed if we can successfully use some kind of prop in our dance."

"See if you can find a ring," Leah suggested. "That would fit the song."

Alice and I walked down the hall and into a room about the size of one of the large studios. The room was filled with shelves and boxes and props hung from every available surface. A girl dressed in crew black with dark purple hair ran forward and blocked us from moving forward.

"My name's Toni and this is my prop shop. What can I help you find?"

Alice pulled up short and almost ran into Toni. It was almost comical, like someone stepping in front of a charging bull. "We need six gold rings."

Tony nodded and disappeared into the maze of shelves and boxes. She returned a few minutes later popping out on the opposite side she had entered and handed a small black box to Alice.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Alice opened the box and nestled in the black velvet were six, shiny gold rings. Alice glanced up at me and I nodded. They were perfect. Alice flashed Toni one of her signature smiles and slipped the box into her pocket.

"This is perfect."

* * *

~Darkrose

They'll start work on choreography in the next chapter. I really wanted to get some more Edward/Bella going in this chapter and I thought the Random CD would be a good way to show more Alice and introduce some of the girls who may or may not make it to the top twenty.

This has nothing to do with the story but, I'm getting my tattoo today! Yippy!


	8. Lady Luck

This chapter was written to "Single Ladies" by: Beyoncé and "Lie to Me" By: Ne-Yo.  
I hope you all enjoy the next round in Bella's story.

Chapter 8- Lady Luck

* * *

POV-Bella

"No Angela you've got to go to the left first. Follow Alice back into the circle."

Angela nodded. "I know, I know. I'm sorry."

Angela was bent over, hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. We all were. I ran my hands though my hair and shivered when the breeze from our one fan hit the sweat on the back of my neck.

The room was hot, and getting more humid by the minute. The one window in this small studio was closed tight to keep the rain out and the mirrors were starting to fog up from all the body heat we were releasing.

I tugged my T-shirt over my head and added it to the growing pile of sticky, rejected clothes in the corner. Angela was the only one left who hadn't stripped down to her sports bra and her shirt was stained with sweat.

"This routine is ridiculous." Jane muttered under her breath as she pinned her bangs out of her face.

"No, it's brilliant. That's why it's so hard." Leah argued.

I felt a small swell of pride. I had never done a group Hip-Hop routine before and it was turning out better than I ever could have hoped. That is, it would be better if we could get the transitions down.

Alice tugged on her short black hair and passed Angela her water bottle. "Let's start at the beginning with Leah's solo. Everyone get back in their places."

Leah took her spot in the center and the rest of us formed a half circle behind her. Leah had a strong background in Hip-Hop and a strong presence on the dance floor. Giving her the first solo had been Alice's idea. She would pull the judges in and give our dance the strong opener we needed.

Alice hit the play button, slipped into her spot in the circle and counted us in.

"And 5, 6, 7, 8"

The lyrics started and Leah began her solo. Leah was a beast. It was the only way I could describe her style. Leah was built like a rock. A sleek, rusty colored, feminine, rock. She danced with the opening set of words and would then rejoin us for the first chorus.

It was all moving smooth. The concept of the dance was simple, six girl friends hanging out at a club. We would take turns in the center, each getting a chance to show our own style mixed with some traditional Hip-Hop.

There were two small group segments, for the first chorus, and the very end of the song. Leah ended her solo with a back flip then hopped into line. We broke into two lines of three. Myself, Alice and Lauran made up row one. Angela, Leah, and Jane were in the second row.

We dropped to the beat and ran though a series of "Sassy" moves that Lauran had choreographed. We had added her passionate moves with my background in Latin dance. The other girls had picked up the samba hip swing and our dance was as hot as this room. I could feel the sweat running on my neck and took back my last thought. Nothing was hotter than this room was, but our dance was definitely sexier.

After the group set we returned to our half circle. The transition's were a place for everyone to show their ability to improve. They could do whatever move they wanted as long as they got back to the half circle in under four beats.

Alice was second and I was impressed at how quickly she had fallen into Hip-Hop. Her style wasn't completely traditional but it fit her personality. Her Jazz background had deep roots and it added a different layer of sizzle to her solo. Not quite Hip-Hop, not quite Jazz, but all Alice.

Alice finished her solo took a small bow and winked at the mirror (Audience). She spun on her heels and swapped places with Jane giving her a high five as she did. Jane danced forward and did an aerial into the center of our circle.

Jane's background was in contemporary dance and she hadn't been lying when she said she could pick things up quickly. I wished half of my students had been able to learn as quickly as she did. Jane's dance was more innocent than the others. Or at least it started that way. Each solo had a different feel to it and we hoped the judges would be able to see our own personality in them.

Jane finished her solo and tagged Lauran into the center. As Lauran did her solo, which in my own opinion belonged on a pole rather than a professional dance stage, the rest of us did a less showy dance behind her.

We moved together, swapping places and smiling. We were playing best friends out for a fun night of partying, drinking, and dancing. Angela and I traded spots and I hooked my arm over Alice shoulders. She smiled at me and we gave each other a high five before Alice twisted away to change places with Leah.

Lauran did a back flip similar to Leah's and Angela slid under her while she was in the air. Lauran landed in Angela's old place and Angela took center stage. She was still struggling with the feel of Hip-Hop and you could see her struggle in her dance. I knew exactly what her problem was and I didn't know how to help her with it.

Angela didn't have confidence in herself. She was shy, quiet, and graceful, everything Hip-Hop was not. If she didn't get more confident in herself and learn that she could be sexy her solo was never going to work out. I had to find a way to reach Angela's inner Vixen.

Angela finished her dance and popped left like she was supposed to, following Alice back around into the half circle. I stepped forward and let my feet take me with the music. I hadn't decided exactly what I was going to do for my solo so every time we practiced it I did something different. The solo only lasted one chorus and then the other girls moved forward for the ending.

There was lots of booty shaking, hip swinging and throughout the song there were several moves, both in the group numbers and in the solos where each girl took a second to show their empty hand to the judges. Or where the judges would be when we did our performance. Right now we were just dancing to the long mirror in the back of our studio.

The last move was the trickiest. Everyone was going to end the song by slipping one of the gold rings onto their finger. The only problem was we couldn't decide how to get the rings on. We could all do the same thing or it could be different for each person. Then there was the problem of where to keep the rings. None of us were wearing real pants right now let alone pockets.

The song ended and we all did some kind of pose. The end of the song would have to be worked out after lunch. I was panting and trying to take even breaths to slow my heart rate.

Someone started clapping and I turned with the other girls to find Twitch leaning against the door frame watching us. I hadn't heard him come in and judging from the other shocked faces I wasn't the only one surprised to see him.

"That was terrific ladies. I love your song choice, very appropriate."

Lauran was at his side in an instant. I bit my lip to hide the giggles as she practically drooled on him. "Thanks, we thought it was fun."

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Alice asked as she splashed water from her bottle on her head. Twitch pointed to a clock hanging over the door. "Everyone else left for lunch ten minutes ago. I'm supposed to kick you out and make you go eat something. The judges don't want you passing out during your performance."

Apparently I wasn't the only one who had missed the time and there were mumbled comments about being hungry but wanting to keep working.

"Actually, lunch is a good idea." Alice said grabbing her clothes from the floor and turning back to face the rest of us. "I've been thinking about our wardrobe. Even if we won't all be identical, close is better than nothing. Does everyone here have a pair of jean shorts with them?"

I nodded and so did everyone else.

"What if we wore jean shorts with some kind of dark colored tank-top?" Alice suggested. "Then, everyone would have a pocket for their ring and we would match for the most part."

Leah nodded. "I'm in. Let's eat."

We sorted through the pile of forgotten, sweaty clothes and made our way downstairs. Edward and Jasper were waiting for us in the lobby and I pulled my T-shirt on as fast as I could. It was too hot to put my sweater back on but, no way I was going to walk around in my sports bra with him here.

Alice beat me to the boys and took the question right out of my mouth.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Edward grinned at me and I felt my cheeks go pink. "We were waiting for you to come down. The others already headed over to the hotel."

"You didn't have to wait for us." Angela said as Jasper held the door for everyone to head outside. It was still sprinkling but with any luck we would be able to open that window when we all reconvened after lunch.

"It's polite to wait." Jasper said as he took Alice's hand and we started trooping our way across the street. Edward nodded his agreement. "My mom raised me as a gentlemen."

"Then where's your brother?" Alice asked raising an eyebrow at Edward.

Edward chuckled and shook his head. "She did her best with him. Emmett's generally very polite but when he's hungry there isn't much that can stop him."

We found the others in the great hall eating lunch all ready.

"There you guys are. We were starting to wonder if you were skipping lunch." Erik said as we all took seats at our table.

"It's our fault." Angela said apologetically pointing to me. "Our group wasn't watching the clock. Twitch had to come up and kick us out of the studio."

"You got to meet him?" Tanya asked, envy clear on her face.

Alice nodded. "Briefly, but yes."

"How is your dance coming? I imagine it's hard trying to get six people to work together." Sam asked changing the topic of conversation.

I shook my head. "Actually were working together better than I could have hoped. There's a little tension but we're almost done with the choreography."

Alice nodded. "There's a lot of strong personalities in our group but the first thing we agreed on was that we needed a leader. After that everyone just agreed to work together and follow Bella's choreography."

"You did the choreography?" Edward asked.

I smirked at him and nodded. "You sound surprised by that."

"Surprised, maybe?" He shrugged. "Impressed, definitely. I didn't know you had experience in choreography."

Now it was my turn to shrug. "There's a lot you still don't know about me."

Angela, Alice and I ate quickly and excused ourselves from the table.

"Are you heading back allready?" Jasper asked as Alice stood to leave.

She winked at him. "We need to get changed for our dance."

We waved goodbye and rode the elevator to the third floor not wantting to take the stairs. Alice followed Angela and I into our room and assessed our outfits. It took ten minutes but eventually she was satisfied that we looked good enough. It took Alice another five minutes to get dressed and then we were racing back across the street to the studio.

The other girls were waiting for us and they had all changed during lunch as well. Alice did a quick assessment of everyone's outfits and declared us ready to perform.

"Does everyone have their ring?"

Everyone had their ring tucked safely into one of the pockets on their shorts and we had finally agreed to just putting the rings on at the same time. During the last count of the song we would all pull the rings out and pose with our hands out in front of us, so everyone could get a clear view of the addition to our costumes. Cheesy? Yes, Effective? Yes.

There was a knock on the door and Twitch came back into the studio.

"I just came to see how your routine is going. Your group will perform eighth. I assume you're going to use that I-pod to play your song?"

Alice stepped forward and played diplomat for us. "Yep, we can give it to the crew workers before we go on."

He nodded. "Ok, how are you doing on time? That's always the part groups have trouble with. If it looks like your dance is going to fall apart, my advice is to, blow it with style. Make it look like you know what you're doing, even if you don't."

Alice smiled up at him and I sensed a hint of pride as she informed him that our dance would not fall apart. "We're almost done actually. We know the choreography we just need to work on cleaning it up some more. I think we'll do just fine."

He looked surprised. "Then I'll let you get back to your work." He nodded a quick good bye and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

"Damn that boy is too fine!" Lauran said as soon as the door was shut.

Jane let out a low whistle and nodded. "Yeah he is."

"You should have told him we needed some help. I wouldn't mind an excuse to dance with that boy." Lauran said fanning herself with her hand.

Alice was about to comment when Leah beat her to it. "That would make us look bad. He's one of the judges and if we look like a bunch of lusting teenagers he'll never take us seriously as dancers."

Lauran shrugged and bit down on her bottom lip. "Might be worth it."

"Not if you want a shot at the top twenty."

Alice clapped her hands and set the music back up. "Let's get back to work ladies. We only have a couple of hours to make this dance perfect."

"Don't you think perfection's a little much to ask, seeing as how we only have one day?" Lauran asked as we took our opening places.

I was getting sick of Lauran. She was such a downer. "If you don't aim for perfection you'll never hit it. Whether you have one day or one year to work on a dance."

Alice didn't give anyone a chance to respond to my comment. She hit the play button and we were off.

We worked for another two hours before a crew member came to tell us it was time to head down to the auditorium. We trooped down stairs and Alice fussed over hair and made sure everyone had their ring.

"Alice calm down."

I pulled her to my side and forced her to sit down. We were sitting behind the group that had both Tanya and Jasper in it and I _might_ have conveniently put Alice in the seat behind Jasper. As soon as she realized who was in front of her she leaned forward to talk to him and left the other girls alone.

Mary and Nigel came on stage with Twitch and they took their seats. They talked to the camera for awhile and then called the first group on stage. We watched the first five groups. They all did fine but it was clear to anyone that they needed more time. The judges made their comments and each group was asked to step down. Cuts would be announced after dinner.

The sixth group was called on stage and Alice elbowed me in the side.

"That's Emmett."

Emmett was on stage dressed like a pimp. His hat was on sideways, his pants were hanging low around his hips and there was a chain around his neck. I started giggling. Hip-Hop was definitely Emmett's style but he didn't make a convincing pimp.

"What do you think they're doing?"

Alice shrugged. "I'm not sure I want to know."

The music started and the two girls in Emmett's team joined him on stage. They were both dressed in scraps of cloth I would struggle to call dresses and it became clear as soon as the song started why.

_I'm bringing sexy back  
Them other boys don't know how to act  
I think it's special what's behind your back  
So turn around and I'll pick up the slack.  
Take em' to the bridge_

Their dance was excellent. Emmett was able to showcase both girls and at the same time he used his strength to do a couple of impressive lifts. The dance seemed to fit Emmett's style and neither girl on stage looked too depressed about having to dance that close to him.

The judges like the dance and after a few brief comments Emmett and his group were dismissed. A crew member dressed in black came and led our group back stage as the next group started their song. I didn't recognize the song but it was a lot slower than any of the others had been.

Alice pulled everyone in line and fluffed Jane's hair.

"Let go of my head." Jane swatted Alice away and Alice pouted.

"I just want us to look good."

"I look fine." Jane snapped.

I grabbed Alice and pulled her to my side. "Did you get our music set up?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. It's all ready for us."

Once the group in front of us was done and the judges had critiqued them, it was time for us to go on. The lights dimmed and our group got called on stage. We filed out and Leah took her spot in the center of our circle.

The opening string of words started and Leah began her solo. As Leah danced in front, the rest of us danced behind her. The background dance was fairly simple. A few steps to the left, then back to the right, on occasion two of the girls would change places or look like they were making a comment about the soloist's dance. Just having a good time.

As the first chorus ended we broke into two lines of three. Lauran was front and center and she led the first group set in the moves she had helped choreograph.

_Now put your hands up  
Up in the club, we just broke up  
I'm doing my own little thing  
Decided to dip and now you wanna trip  
Cause another brother noticed me._

_I'm up on him, he up on me  
Don't pay him any attention  
Just cried my tears, for three good years  
Ya can't be mad at me._

We returned to the back circle and Alice took center stage. Alice wasn't as powerful as Leah but she commanded the audience's attention just as fully. Alice had a smile on her face as she spun out her last move. She stopped on her toes, gave a short bow and winked in Jasper's direction.

Alice spun on her toes, gave Jane a high five and traded places with her. As the song broke into another chorus of "Put a ring on it", Jane showed off her ability to pick up new dance styles. I certainly couldn't tell this was her first time dancing Hip-Hop.

After Jane it was Lauran's turn to show off and her eyes were locked on Twitch as she danced. I desperately hoped her attempts to be seductive wouldn't look bad on the rest of us and focused my attention on Alice who had just moved to my side.

Alice and I danced for a few seconds before she twisted away and changed places with Leah. I swapped places in the circle with Jane and I ended up right next to Angela. I hadn't had time to try and help Angela with her solo and it was clear she was starting to get nervous.

I hooked my arm over Angela and threw her off for a second at the sudden change in choreography. I pulled her to my side and she started to roll with the new moves.

"Angela you've got to loosen up. You'll do just fine, go get them."

I swapped places with Angela so she was in the center. She glanced up at me and nodded. Lauran spun to face the judges and back flipped. Angela hesitated so I pushed her forward, hoping no one would notice the momentary lag.

_I got gloss on my lips, a man on my hips  
Got me tighter in my Dereon jeans  
Acting up, drink in my cup  
I can care less what you think  
I need no permission, did I mention  
Don't pay him any attention  
Cause you had your turn and now you gonna learn  
What it really feels like to miss me_

Angela slid under Lauran just in time and started her solo. I swapped places with Leah and tried to focus on the background dance as Angela did her solo. I could tell she was trying to listen to my advice and her solo ended up better than it ever had in practice. I just hoped it was enough to impress the judges.

Angela popped to her left and slid into the circle as I made my way forward. I still hadn't come up with a set choreography so I just let the music move me.

_Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it  
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it  
Don't be mad once you see that he want it  
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it  
Oh, oh, oh  
If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it  
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it  
Don't be mad once you see that he want it  
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it  
Oh, oh, oh_

I looked out at the audience, determined not to let the judges distract me. My gaze fell to the front row and locked with a pair of bright green eyes. My heart beat took off and I couldn't look away. The balance of my body shifted from my heels to my hips and the focus of my dance locked on the front row. I wasn't dancing for myself anymore, I was dancing to him.

The lyrics of the song changed and I pulled my eyes away from his face. I had missed the end of my solo and fallen behind. I spun backwards and fell into my place as again we broke into two lines of three for the end of the song. It took a moment to get back in time with the others and I cursed myself for letting anything distract me.

_Don't treat me to the things of the world  
I'm not that kind of girl  
your love is what I prefer, what I deserve.  
Here's a man that makes me then takes me  
And delivers me to a destiny, to infinity and beyond  
Pull me into your arms, say I'm the one you own  
If you don't, you'll be alone  
And like a ghost Ill be gone_

We moved as a group to the last chorus. The front row switched places with the second so everyone would have a chance to be up front. As the song came to an end I fished the small gold ring out of my pocket.

The ring slipped on my finger and we hit our last pose. Everyone crowded together, center stage. The attention fell on our outstretched hands. The music ended and everyone clapped. I kept my gaze locked on the judges, refusing to allow myself to get distracted again. My heart beat was erratic and it took longer than normal to get it slowed down.

We all stood up and moved so we were standing in front of the judges. Nigel was first, he kept his comments simple. He was impressed with Leah's solo and commented us on starting with her. Mary was more enthusiastic.

"That was fantastic girls!"

I smiled along with the others and a sense of relief seemed to settle over everyone.

"Who did your choreography?"

Leah pushed me forward before I had time to react. "Bella did it." My cheeks blushed red and I pulled Alice forward next to me.

"I didn't do it alone. Alice and Lauran both helped."

Lauran jumped to my side and nodded. Alice patted my hand and took a step back.

"You're too modest Bella. We helped but the concept was yours."

Mary was impressed and she commented on the use of our rings. Next Twitch gave us his opinion.

"I got to see a little of your rehearsal earlier and I'm impressed at how you used each of your own styles to make the solos all different. Each one was rooted in Hip-Hop but the audience got a feel for each of your individual styles as well."

I had hoped someone would pick up on that. Nigel commented on our time management and we were excused from the stage.

My head was spinning as we got back stage and I realized I had been holding my breath. I pressed my fingers to my temples and took a few deep slow breaths. A pair of larger hands covered mine and pulled my arms to my side.

"If you're dizzy you should try putting your head between your knees."

I spun around and tripped over a cord on the floor. Edward wrapped his hands around my waist and steadied me. It was dark back stage so I couldn't see his face clearly and I hoped he wouldn't see the blush on my face. I had always been a good blusher but ever sense he showed up it was getting out of hand.

"I'm fine."

A crew man hushed us and reminded us that another group was on stage. We apologized and Edward pulled me off to the side. The rest of my group was all ready gone and I caught a glimpse of Sam standing with the rest of his and Edward's group.

"You're the only person I know who forgets to breathe."

He was whispering in my ear and I giggled as his lips tickled me.

"Breathing's overrated." I took a step back and tried to see his face more clearly.

I could feel his chest rumble under my hands as he chuckled and then the music on stage stopped.

"You better get ready."

He nodded. "Wish me luck?"

"You'll do fine, I know you will."

"Thanks, your solo was fantastic by the way."

I was going to comment that my solo had been a disaster. I had let myself get distracted and fallen behind. It was lucky for me that the judges hadn't seemed to notice it, but if I went home tonight I wouldn't be surprised. Before I could comment Sam had grabbed Edward and was pulling him back over to their group so they could get ready.

"Good luck."

I was pretty sure he hadn't heard me. I was still whispering so the crew members wouldn't yell at me again. I made my way as quickly as possible back to the auditorium, trying to make sure I didn't trip over any more of the cords that littered the walkway.

I fell into my seat just as Edward's group started dancing. Their group consisted of Edward, Sam, Mike and some girl I didn't know. I might not have known the girl, but I did know the song. It was "Lie to Me" by: Ne-Yo

I hadn't noticed before but everyone in their group was dressed in black. Edward looked good in black. Edward was in the front with Mike and Sam and as the music started, they danced slowly with the opening string of words.

_Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie  
_

As the chorus started, the girl in their group started stalking forward. She was dressed in a black dress and had a blood red tie around her neck. She stopped behind Mike and started mirroring his moves. Edward and Sam continued dancing as she spun Mike out of line and pulled him to her. He was the first to fall for her lies.

_I don't wanna be numb  
I don't wanna feel a thing  
I don't want reality  
Actually, reality stinks  
How about we just pretend,  
That your cellphone didn't even ring  
And that I wasn't on the other side of the door  
Listening to everything.  
Tell me another lie_

As soon as the first chorus was done she shoved Mike aside. She had finished using him and was moving onto the next man in line. Their dance was slower than the others I had seen so far, contemporary style dancing sometimes was. It was beautiful, slow, kind of dark. The girl stopped behind Edward and started mirroring his moves like she had with Mike. He was her next victim.

_I don't wanna know what I know to be __true__,  
What I need you to do, tell me another lie,  
I don't wanna know what I know to be true,  
What I need you to do, tell me another lie,  
I don't wanna know what I know to be true,  
What I need you to do, tell me another lie,  
I don't wanna know what I know to be true,  
What I need you to do, tell me another lie...  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie to me  
Lie_

She pulled Edward out of line and they danced together. She had Edward under her spell and as soon as the chorus was over she shoved him aside like she had with Mike. Edward joined Mike in the back and they danced in sync as the girl stalked towards Sam. She stopped behind him and shadowed his moves as another verse of the song started. The predator expertly stalking her prey before the kill.

_Please make me believe  
That there is nobody for you, but me  
When I ask who were you talking to  
Tell me it was Kimberly  
Tell me the last night you didn't leave  
After you thought I was asleep  
Crept back in at 6:45  
Tell me it was just a dream  
Baby I need, I need, desperately, desperately  
To believe you  
Cause I won't be held responsible, responsible  
For what, what I might do  
Baby I need, I need, desperately, desperately  
To believe you  
Cause I won't be held responsible, responsible_

She pulled Sam out of line and they danced together. Behind them Edward and Mike were still moving together, like they couldn't see the others dancing in front of them. Once she had finished with Sam she pushed him away like she had the others.

She glanced around and realized that there was no one else waiting for her on stage. She turned her back on the judges and slipped back stage, on her mission to find another guy to dance with. Edward and the others moved back to the center of the stage and ended the song the same way it had started.

_Tell me another lie  
Tell me another lie  
Tell me another lie  
Tell me another lie  
I don't wanna know what I know to be true,  
What I need you to do, tell me another lie,  
I don't wanna know what I know to be true,  
What I need you to do, tell me another lie,  
I don't wanna know what I know to be true,  
What I need you to do, tell me another lie_

It was fantastic. As the song drifted out everyone started clapping. The girl came back on stage and she joined the boys as they moved to stand in front of the judges. They were laughing and who ever she was she slipped her arm around Edward's waist.

The judges loved their dance. The girls name was Monika and she was the one who had come up with their choreography. I kept my eyes locked on her face and tried to find out why I suddenly didn't like her.

"Bella, are you ok?"

Alice was sitting on my side and she tugged at my arm when I didn't respond. I glanced over at her and Jasper and shrugged.

"I'm fine."

Liar, liar pants on fire. I wasn't fine but I didn't know why I was mad. I had no right to be mad at her. Monika had come up with a great dance and it would probably ensure Edward made it to the next round. I should be happy, right?

"No you're not." Alice said knowingly. "What's wrong?"

I scowled a bit and shook my head. "It's nothing."

"She's jealous." Jasper said like it was the most obvious thing.

I scowled at him and got defensive. "I am not." I was not jealous of Monika. I was a better dancer than she was. My choreography had been just as good as hers. I had no reason to be jealous of her.

Jasper smirked at me. "Just keep telling yourself that."

Alice shot him a confused look and they had another one of their silent conversations. Alice glanced back at me and smiled before returning her gaze to the stage.

The judges tore at Sam a bit and then they were asked to step off stage. The next group stepped up and we watched as Rosalie danced circles around Ben and the rest of her group. In Ben's defense he was the only guy who managed to keep up with Rosalie at all and even then just barely.

I glanced around the room and found Edward sitting with his group up in the front row. He glanced over his shoulder and I gave him a thumbs-up. He smiled and then we both looked back to the stage.

It took another two hours for all of the groups to finish and then everyone raced through dinner so we could see who was getting cut. I held my breath as Emmett made it to the next round and one of the girls in his group got sent home.

The entire group after Emmett's got sent home and then it was time for my group to face the judges. Alice was bouncing on the balls of her toes as the judges called her, Jane and Angela forward. They all made it to the next round.

Lauran was called forward next. She had not impressed the judges and they recommended she try again next year after her dancing had matured a little bit.

"You're cutting me?!?" Lauran asked in a bewildered rage.

"Yes, please step off stage." Nigel asked as he called myself and Leah forward.

"You can't cut me! I was the best dancer in this group."

Lauran had a few choice words for the judges and then a crew member in black had to pull her off stage so the judges could continue.

"Bella, Leah. You are both very strong dancers and we were particularly impressed by both of your solo's."

I felt my stomach drop. I could just hear it in my head. "_You're good but not good enough. Get off the stage. You failed." _This couldn't be the end. Nigel cleared his throat before finishing his statement.

"We're expecting even better things from you both in the next round. Congratulations to you both."

Leah jumped up and down and pulled me into a hug. We hurried off stage and rejoined Angela, Alice, and Jane in our seats. No one knew where Lauran had gone but she wasn't in the auditorium anymore.

Edward's group was next. Edward and Monika got passed to the next round instantly and I had to sit on my hands as the judges tore at Mike and Sam some more.

"Mike we look forward to seeing you do more in the next round but we will expect more." Mike smiled and hurried off stage before the judges could change their minds.

"Unfortunately Sam, this is the end of your Vegas callbacks, maybe next year."

Sam's face fell. He had been cut again. Once again Sam wouldn't make it to the top twenty. I heard Erik a few rows ahead of us complaining and Alice looked like someone had caught her off guard. Something I had come to learn didn't happen very often.

Sam bowed his head and thanked them for the opportunity. He walked off stage and the next group moved to face the judges.

The rest of the cuts blew by. The two boys who had danced with Rosalie and Ben were dismissed along with another handful of dancers. In the end, another twenty one people had hit the end of their road and would not have a chance to make it to Vegas. There were only sixty-seven of us left and it would be a blood bath to try and make it to the top.

I followed the others back to the hotel and we all gave Sam a hug and took turns saying our goodbyes.

"Don't worry about it you guys. I look forward to seeing you make it to the top twenty."

"You really think we're all going to make it when you couldn't?" Erik asked.

Sam shrugged. "You never know. There could be a reason we all met right at the start."

"You're starting to sound like Miss Superstition." Erik said pointing in my direction. I punched him in the shoulder.

"At least you'll have your own room now." Sam pointed out.

Erik nodded. "A silver lining."

We waved as Sam and the other dismissed dancers got on the bus for the airport and watched until the bus was out of sight.

We walked back up the stairs, no one willing to break the silence that had fallen over our group. Sam had seemed just as strong in my mind as Summer and now they were both gone. I wondered briefly how Summer would take the news that Sam had been cut.

Angela and I said our goodbyes as we reached our floor and Edward wished us sweet dreams. Emmett chuckled and ruffled my hair.

"No worries Bella, if he wakes me up again he'll be at your door in no time."

I blushed. Erik looked confused and Edward hit Emmett upside his head. I said goodbye and quickly let the door swing shut behind us before anyone else could comment. Angela opened the door to our room and I let her have the shower.

I sent a texted Summer the bad news about Sam and she told me she already knew. Sam was texting her from the airport. She wished me good luck on the next round and I fell asleep before Angela even got out of the shower.

* * *

~Darkrose  
We're almost done with callbacks!

I have a questions for anyone who's a fan of the show. Does anyone know where the top twenty stay during the taping of the show? Right now I just have them living at a hotel but I don't have any idea where they really stay.


	9. Hurricane Skobel

This chapter is dedicated to "Janette Manrara" She was my all time favorite dancer from this year's real season five of "So You Think You Can Dance." She was just eliminated last Thursday (July 23) America is so stupid! (Pouts in a corner) I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, my favorites never win.

Anyway, onto the chapter, this chapter was written to "Love Again" By: Cascada

Chapter 9- Hurricane Skobel

* * *

POV-Bella

I was up with the dawn again the next day. I showered early and pulled on clean clothes for the day. We would no doubt be returning to pre-choreographed styles today and it was going to be ruthless. There were only 67 dancers left and only 20 spots open for the show.

Angela was still sleeping and I was attempting to brush out my wet hair when there was a soft knock on the door. I had a good idea about who it was but I peeked though the little eye hole on the door all the same.

Edward was standing in the hall waving at me. He was already dressed so I was assuming Emmett hadn't kicked him out today. I opened the door and let him slip past me.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked, as he sat down on the end of my bed.

"I thought you said I could come back if Emmett kicked me out?"

"It doesn't look like Emmett kicked you out." I said pointing out his fresh change of clothes. His hair was perfect and he looked ready to start the day.

Edward smirked at me and shrugged. "I thought I would save him the trouble."

It was only 5:30 and breakfast wouldn't even start until six. I sat on the edge of the bed and continued working my brush though my hair.

He motioned me closer and took my brush from me, running it gently through my hair. His hands worked quickly and he never pulled too hard. I was kind of surprised at how good he was at brushing long hair.

"What are you thinking?"

His question broke the comfortable silence we had been sitting in and I bit back a giggle.

"I was wondering where you learned to brush long hair."

I felt him shrug behind me. "Should this be difficult?"

"You seem to be pretty good at everything." I pointed out.

He chuckled. "You haven't seen me dance Hip-Hop yet, not a pretty sight."

"You can't dance Hip-Hop?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I've only ever tried it a few times, but I just couldn't seem to get it down."

"I have trouble believing that." I said honestly.

He finished with my hair and laid down next to me.

"What about you? There has to be one style you struggle with."

"Did you see my disco routine?" I asked sarcastically.

He nodded. "You were easily the best in your group."

"Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes and laid down next to him. Part of his bangs had fallen in front of his eyes and I had a strange urge to brush it out of his face.

He propped himself up on his side and the hair in his face fell to the side. "You don't believe me?"

"I've never done disco before. It couldn't have been that good."

"I didn't say your style was the best. You were just the best dancer on stage. It's very hard not to watch you when you dance. Everyone can tell you're having fun and that adds a layer of emotion to your dancing that most people don't have. It's almost enchanting."

I smiled up at him and didn't miss the pink tinge on the tops of his ears. I was making him blush now. I felt like doing a happy dance but I didn't want him to feel awkward about sharing his feeling with me. It was really sweet.

"Ballet."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "What about Ballet?"

"I can't dance Ballet, at all."

He chuckled. "I could have probably guessed that one. You seem to have enough trouble walking over flat surfaces."

I hit him in the shoulder and tried to scowl at him like I was mad. "Shut up."

He wasn't fooled. He laughed even harder and I decided to try pouting instead. I stuck out my bottom lip and gave him my sorry excuse for puppy eyes. He blanched and looked regretful. I couldn't have hoped for it to work any better.

"I'm sorry Bella."

I giggled and he looked confused. "Apology accepted."

"You're a tease."

"I am no such thing."

We continued with an unofficial game of twenty questions. He asked about my home life and about the high school I had attended. He seemed truly shocked when I told him I had never had a serious boyfriend before. I told him about Samba Sun and how I had been teaching there for almost three years now.

In turn I got to learn more about him and his life back in Forks. I learned that he liked fast cars, even though he didn't have one right now. He was a fan of classical music as well as classic novels and he played the piano.

"You have to play for me someday."

He nodded. "I would love to." I smiled and he continued. "Ok, next question. What's your favorite color?"

"It changes from day to day."

"What's your favorite color right now?" He pressed and I lost myself in his eyes again. It was strangely hard to form coherent sentences when he looked at me like that and I fumbled over my words as I spoke.

"Um- Th- That's two questions."

He shrugged. "Just answer the question Bella."

"Today?" I hesitated for a second. I liked a lot of beautiful colors: Orange was bright and happy, Brown was warm and comfortable, but at the moment I could only think of one and it was staring me straight in the face. "Emerald"

He smiled and I managed to pull away from his gaze. As soon as I looked away from him it was easier to think and I shot his question back at him.

"What's your favorite color?"

"The color of that tank-top you were wearing what I came with Erik and Sam to pick you up for dinner on the first day." He hadn't missed a beat and I could tell he was being completely serious.

I rolled over and fished my pajama tank out of my suitcase. I had never given a lot of thought over my old tank-top. It was just something I slept in. It was a dark blue color and there were little white butterflies along the bottom.

"This color?" I held the top up and he nodded.

"That blue color looks great on you."

I blushed and the alarm clock on my bed side table started buzzing. I jumped and managed to keep myself from falling off the edge of the bed.

Angela wiggled under her covers and smiled when she saw who was with me.

"Good morning Edward, Bella."

He nodded and stood up. "Good morning, Angela." He nodded in my direction. "I'll see you both down at breakfast."

I walked him to the door again and waved as he disappeared up the stairs. Angela grabbed some clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. I sat back down on my bed and tucked my tank-top back into my suitcase. I was going to have to find a dress in that color.

I sent Summer a text, not expecting her to respond this early. My phone beeped and I checked my messages. Summer was still awake? She was meeting Sam at the airport to welcome him home. The plane bringing him in had been delayed for hours and she was getting ready to tear her hair out. Summer hated airports. A fact that I quickly pointed out to her.

I laughed at her reply. She had told me to shut up and that she didn't feel like waiting for Sam to get home before seeing him. She had it bad for him. I sent Sam a warning text, letting him know that he shouldn't dawdle once the plane landed and warned him that if he hurt my best friend I would hunt him down. I wasn't sure what I would do with him once I had him but, I would hunt him down all the same. Summer had never been lucky in love and I really didn't want her to get hurt again.

After Angela was done in the bathroom we used the elevator to bring us down to the first floor and found the others waiting for us. Alice and Jasper were sitting with Rosalie, and Angela ditched us to go sit with Ben as soon as she found him.

Talk at breakfast was minimal.

"Sam's afraid of you Bella." Erik said as I took my seat.

I raised an eyebrow at him and Erik pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and waved it at me.

"He's been texting me all morning about your threat. He really likes Summer. I don't think you have to worry about him hurting her."

"Bella threatened Sam?" Emmett asked, amused.

I nodded and picked at my bagel. "I just warned him against hurting my friend back home. I have a feeling they're going to start dating soon."

"You're not very scary Bells." Jake pointed out.

I shrugged. "Sam seems to think I am. That's all that matters."

After breakfast we made the journey with the other dancers across the street and into the auditorium. Everyday the room seemed to get bigger as fewer and fewer dancers returned. Nigel and Mary were on stage talking with some of the crew men.

I took my seat next to Edward as our group sat up in the front. Alice and Jasper joined us and I was glad to see they had brought Rosalie over with them. Jasper introduced his sister and did formal introductions.

"Guys this is my sister, Rosalie. Rose this is everyone I've been telling you about.." He pointed around the group and quickly went through everyone's names for his sister.

"That's Jake, Bella, Tanya and Erik, The one next to Bella is Edward and this is Edward's brother Emmett." He glanced around and noted our missing member. "Where's Angela?"

"She's sitting somewhere with Ben." I answered.

"We're right here."

I glanced over my shoulder and found Angela leading Ben over to where we were sitting. They sat down behind Edward and I, leaving the only place open for Rosalie right next to Emmett. Emmett seemed to have gone speechless. It was a miracle, seeing as how he almost never shut up.

Alice nudged my side and nodded in their direction, a big smile on her face. I watched with her as Rosalie sat down next to Emmett and he struggled not to drool on himself as he introduced himself again. I leaned into Alice's side and tried to keep my voice low so no one else would overhear me.

"Did you do that on purpose?"

She shrugged and tried to give me one of her innocent expressions. "Do what?" I wasn't fooled. Alice was a mastermind and I caught the little twinkle in her eye as Emmett and Rose started talking less awkwardly. She was truly an evil little genius.

We waited another ten minutes before all of the cameras were set up for filming and it was time to learn today's style. Nigel and Mary weren't alone onstage anymore. They had been joined by a short man with smooth, almond colored skin.

He looked almost Chinese but I wasn't sure. I was sure I recognized him though. I just couldn't remember from where.

"That's Chris Skobel." Angela whispered from behind us and suddenly it clicked where I knew this man from. He was a new up and coming choreographer and was making waves all over the dance world. I had recently seen an article about him in a magazine.

Edward glanced back at Angela. "He's a contemporary dancer right?"

I glanced over my shoulder to watch her. Angela nodded. "He just won a young choreographers award for his work. He's supposed to be really good."

Emmett twisted around in his seat to join our conversation. "I heard he's supposed to be really tough. That's why his dances all turn out so well. Anyone who can't take it quits."

"Oh joy." Erik said rolling his eyes and we all turned our attention back to the stage as Nigel started talking.

He introduced Chris and whispering broke out amongst some of the dancers. Emmett glanced back over at the rest of us.

"He doesn't look scary."

I nodded and some of the others whispered their agreement. I was having trouble finding anything scary about Chris. He was probably about 5'3 and he had fashion sense that would rival Summer. He was wearing black dance pants and a simple white top. There was a scarf wrapped around his neck and his watch had to be designer.

Nigel finished talking and gave the mic to Mary. She told us about the award Chris had just won and thanked him for coming on the show. He smiled and nodded along, getting all of the filming formalities out of the way.

Once Mary gave the mic to Chris so he could address the dancers, his entire demeanor changed. His smile fell and he gazed over the group of dancers in front of him like he wasn't impressed by what he saw. I was starting to see the scary part.

"Welcome to Hell, top 67. I'm going to be working with you on a new contemporary dance I have recently been working on." He smiled again but I could feel the threatening edge to his face. "It's my job to break you. Only twenty of you will make it to the top and I'm going to make sure only the best get the chance to fight for the title."

He handed the mic back to Mary and walked off stage without another word. The room was silent. Nigel informed us we would all be working in studio one and told us it would be best not to keep our choreographer waiting. There was a sort of frenzied rush as everyone got to their feet and hurried into studio one.

Skobel walked through the lines of dancers and everyone waited for him to say something, anything. He stopped in front of a girl with long black hair. It took me a moment but I recognized her as Monika, the girl from Edward's random CD group. He pulled her forward and paired her with a boy from the second row.

"You two" He pointed out another pair standing next to each other in the last row. "Pair up." He walked around the room mixing people up and pairing them off. He took Alice from my left and paired her with Erik.

Angela got matched with Mike, Jake got paired with Leah, Emmett visibly flinched when Chris paired him with Amber, his partner from the Tango round. Tanya got paired with Ben, and Jane wound up with a guy almost a foot taller than her.

"You" Chris pointed to Rosalie and motioned for her to follow him. He walked down the row and stopped in front of Jasper. "You two, partner up."

Rosalie and Jasper exchanged identical looks of distaste.

"Oh, I don't think so." Rosalie spun on her toes and called after Chris, he had walked away as soon as they were paired and seemed shocked that someone would challenge his decision.

He turned around slowly to face Rosalie and raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her. "Yes, you have a problem with my pairing?"

Rosalie folded her arms over her chest and stood at her full height. She was a foot taller than Chris but he didn't back down.

"Yes I do. I think it would be best for both of us if we were given different partners."

Chris glanced up at Jasper, who nodded his agreement with his sister. When he looked back at Rosalie he almost seemed impressed that someone would stand up to him.

"Why?"

Rosalie nodded in Jasper's direction. "He's my brother. I don't know what your dance involves but you should know that before you pair us together. "

Chris nodded and glanced between the pair of them. "That might make this dance uncomfortable. I do prefer to keep siblings separate." He clapped his hands once and glanced around the room. "Very well, follow me miss."

He paired Rose up with another man and Jasper got a girl who could have rivaled Rosalie in the category of 'best legs'. Chris continued pairing people off until most of the room was standing in groups of two.

He stopped in front of Edward and I held my breath. "You" He curled his finger at Edward and motioned for him to follow. He walked down the line and stopped in front of the girl on my right. He glanced between the two of us and then pointed at me.

"With her."

Edward moved to my side and flashed me one of his beautiful grins. I nodded once and tried to keep the smile off my face. I wasn't sure how well I hid my excitement on the outside but I was happy dancing on the inside. Edward was a great dancer. This was going to be perfect.

Once Chris was happy with the pairings he returned to the front of the room and hit the play button on the stereo. I knew the song that started playing over the speakers. "Love Again" By: Cascada. It was a beautiful song.

Chris introduced us to his partner. She had been the lead dancer in his award winning piece and she was going to be helping us learn the new dance. They performed the dance for us once and I felt butterflies in my stomach. It was a slower lyrical contemporary dance. Very emotional, very passionate, very beautiful.

I watched with the others as they moved. Several of the moves followed along with the lyrics and the slower dance steps left plenty of exposed spots in the dance. I had always found slow dances to be more of a challenge over fast numbers. In a fast move if you make a mistake you're moving so fast people don't tend to notice it, but in a slow number everyone sees everything. If you misstep or if you're not in control of your entire body the dance falls apart.

Once they were done it was time for the rest of us to try. Edward and I turned to face each other. He wrapped his hand around my right forearm as we copied the opening pose. My left hand hung at my side as I tensed my right fist.

"It's not the Samba, but I think this'll be fun." Edward said as we followed Chris' directions into the first step.

Edward moved to stand behind me still holding my arm in front of me. The concept of the dance was two lovers fighting to understand the love that they shared, neither one willing to admit they needed the other, while at the same time not willing to let the other go. I nodded as we watched Chris's partner make the next move.

"Lots of fun."

I twisted as quickly as I could and pulled away from him. Edward kept a hold of my arm and pulled me back to his chest. The dance lead would go back and forth between Edward and I, each trying to keep the other from running away while at the same time fighting to escape ourselves.

We continued all morning. Chris pushed us harder than any of the other choreographers had. He yelled at people when they got the moves wrong and pushed more than one person to tears. It was tough love but I could see why his dances always did so well. He wouldn't settle for anything less than the best.

"Bella, let's try the lift again."

I nodded and Edward twisted my back in front of him. The first lift took place right after the opening verse of the song. There was a tempo change and we had to come out of the lift twice as fast as we started it.

"Ready?"

I nodded. "Don't drop me."

"Would I drop you?"

"Not on purpose."

He nodded "True, I'll do my best. Just don't kick me in the face."

"Would I kick you?"

He smiled. "Not on purpose."

I raced forward a few steps and jumped as hard as I could. Edward had his hands wrapped around my forearms again and I kicked out my legs, hitting a split midair. I kicked one of my legs forward and hooked it over his shoulder so I was perched on his left shoulder. Edward had one hand on my waist holding me steady.

"We did it."

I wobbled and grabbed onto his hair to keep from falling backwards.

"Ouch."

"Sorry."

My leg slipped and I locked my legs around his chest, trying to keep myself from falling as Edward tried to regain his balance.

"You're slipping Bella."

I rolled my eyes but the effect was lost since he couldn't see. "I noticed."

He chuckled at me and I pulled on his hair again.

"Would you stop that?"

"Don't laugh at me."

He chuckled again. "But you're so amusing."

"Help me down Edward."

He crouched down and I tried to get my legs under me. I let go of his shoulders too soon and wound up landing on my butt.

"Ouch."

Edward spun around and helped me to my feet. "Are you ok?" I chuckled and fixed the short skirt I was wearing over my leggings.

"I've had worse."

"Want to try it again?"

I was going to say sure when Chris descended on us. "Oh no you don't. That was wrong and frankly I'm glad you didn't get hurt trying it." He waved his partner over to him. "We'll show you the lift again. Watch closely this time."

We watched as Chris counted off and his partner ran at him. Chris crossed his arms when he grabbed her so, when she landed on his shoulder they were both facing forwards. It was exactly the same as what we had just done. Except for the falling down part at the end.

Chris's partner started talking and I finally noticed what we had done wrong.

"You don't want to center your weight or you'll pull Edward backwards and fall again. When you land you want to keep your weight on the left side and hook your left leg over his shoulder so you don't fall. It will help you both keep your balance."

I nodded. I could see it now. She was sitting on Chris's left shoulder but her right leg was how she kept her balance. I glanced up at Edward and gave him a sheepish smile.

He shrugged it off. "Want to try again?"

"Let's do it."

We worked on the lift until Chris approved. As each couple worked, the song played over and over again in the back ground. Emmett and Amber were fighting and more than once Tanya made her opinion on Ben's dancing known to the whole room.

"You're doing it wrong!"

"No, I'm not. Would you just listen for a second?"

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I'm your partner, we need to work together!"

"Some pathetic excuse for a partner."

Edward groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "She's going to get herself kicked off if she doesn't quit fighting."

I nodded along and turned to watch with some of the other dancers as Tanya and Ben shouted at each other. Chris pulled them apart and told them both to suck it up and if they didn't he would recommend to the judges that they were both removed from the competition.

"It's nearly lunch time anyway. Everyone go eat and I want you back here in an hour. There are no excuses for being late."

Edward and I grabbed our things and made a quick escape. We waited outside on the sidewalk as one by one the rest of our little breakfast club showed up. Emmett was fuming.

"I really can't stand that woman anymore."

He shot a dirty look at Amber as she crossed the street with another friend and disappeared into the hotel. I had never seen Emmett angry before and I was kind of glad I wasn't the focus of his frustration.

Alice and Erik were getting along fine but Erik didn't have Jasper's skill in dancing with someone so much shorter than he was.

Angela was trying to keep her weight off her left leg. It seemed Mike was good at tripping his partners no matter what style of dance he was doing and she was quite sore.

Neither Jasper or Rosalie offered any information on their partners so I assumed both were doing just fine. Jake and Leah seemed to be getting along ok and I was pleased to learn Leah would be joining us for lunch.

"How are you two coming along? It sounded like Chris was riding you pretty hard about that lift?" Erik asked, as Edward and I sat down at the table. Our dining group was getting pretty big. There were now twelve of us gathered around one table we almost couldn't fit everyone. Angela had brought Ben over to join us and Rosalie was looking very comfortable in the seat next to Emmett.

"We got it down eventually." Edward offered.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, the bruises on my butt really love that lift."

"I'm gonna give Amber a few bruises if she doesn't start paying attention." Emmett grumbled as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

"Now Emmett, that's not very nice." Edward scolded his older brother playfully and Emmett responded by flipping him off.

"I didn't mean I was going to hit her. She's just got two left feet. She keeps tripping over me and I'm sick of catching her. I meant it when I said I was going to let her fall on her butt."

Lunch moved faster than I would have liked and soon we were all under the tirade of Chris Skobel again. He circled the room like a buzzard yelling at anyone who made a mistake in his routine.

"What the hell was that?!?"

"You're doing that move wrong! Don't make me show it to you again."

"I thought you were supposed to be dancers! What is this crap?"

"Bella point your toes more."

I jumped as Chris appeared out of nowhere at my side. I fixed my foot and Edward and I repeated the move we had just performed for Chris's inspection.

He nodded and slightly adjusted Edward's hand lower on my waist. "Better. You've got to follow through on all your lines, from your hip to your toes and your shoulder to your finger tips. This dance is all about movement. Each move flows to the next like a single step. It should be hard for the judges to tell where one move starts and the next begins."

We both nodded and set up to run the move again. We were working on the ending of the song. The last move was one of my favorites. Edward had his right hand wrapped around my left forearm again, much like the opening move. But instead of trying to fight away from him I had my arm locked around his neck.

We continued the dance moving across the room, trying not to run into any of the other groups as they worked. I had half of my attention on the steps and the other on my toes. I didn't want to get yelled at again for something as basic as pointing my toes. Edward spun me away from him, his hand moving from my forearm, to just holding my hand.

I hit my pose at the farthest point in our twist, our fingers just barely touching between us, but always in contact. I twisted back into him and he wrapped his hand around my waist. The last move was probably the hardest, but the challenge was always part of the fun in dance.

I bent my knees at the last possible second and with Edward's hands to guide me I flipped backwards over his right shoulder. As soon as my feet hit the ground I jumped again but this time wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. The music ended and I rested my forehead against his shoulder trying to catch my breath.

"That was perfect Bella."

I nodded into his shoulder. "How did the lift go?"

"It was fine, are you planning to get down today?"

I tightened my legs around his waist and smiled into his neck. "I'm not too heavy for you am I?"

"Of course not Bella, but it is almost time to go."

I craned my neck around to look at the clock above the door. I couldn't decide if I thought the day had gone by very quickly or extremely slowly. Being under Chris's watchful eye was nerve wracking and I could tell where all the rumors about him had come from. On the other hand, Edward was easily the best partner I had ever danced with.

I tightened my hold around his neck and dropped to my feet. Edward took my hand and motioned for me to lead the way. Chris had turned off the music and dancers were starting to make their way back to the auditorium.

"Do you think we're ready?" I asked nervously as we walked down the aisle to where the rest of our group was sitting.

His grip tightened on my hand and his thumb rubbed soothing circles on the back of my hand. "It's going to be great Bella. You're a great dancer."

"I have a good partner."

He smirked down at me. "You're just saying that."

"No, really. I've never been able to dance that well with anyone before, at least not right away."

As I said the words out loud I realized just how true they were. Dancing with Edward came so naturally, I really hadn't though about it until now. I had only known him a short time but I trusted him completely. Trust really was the base layer of any dancing partnership. Unlike my time dancing with Mike, I knew Edward wouldn't let me fall on my butt.

He raised my hand to his face and kissed my knuckles. "I quite enjoyed dancing with you too Bella."

I blushed five shades of red and my pulse took off, pounding in my chest. The lights in the auditorium dimmed and I was grateful for the distraction. Nigel, Mary, and Chris had all taken their seats in the judges booth and they were talking to the camera.

Chris talked a little bit about his piece and thanked FOX for the chance to come on the show. Once he was done talking, Nigel called the first couple and the fourth round of callbacks began. I felt my nerves growing as group after group performed the routine Chris had been grilling us on all day. They were all so good. How was I going to stand out against this many excellent dancers?

A crew man in black tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped in my seat.

"I'm sorry I startled you miss, you and Edward are on deck. Pleas come back stage with me."

Edward and I followed the man through the maze of wires backstage until we were standing just offstage. I was taking deep breaths through my nose in a desperate attempt to calm myself down. The only part about dancing I didn't like was the pre-show butterflies.

Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. He leaned into my ear and kept his voice down so the techies wouldn't complain about the noise.

"Calm down Bella. It's going to be fine."

I nodded along and bit on my lower lip. Sure everything would be fine. Until I tripped on stage and made us both look like morons. Or I could make a wrong move and trip him and wreck his chance for the finals. Or he could miss one of the lifts and I could fall. My breathing picked up again as I freaked myself out.

He put a finger under my chin and forced me to look at him. He didn't start speaking until he was sure I was looking at him.

"You're not calming down Bella."

I locked my eyes on his and even in the minimal light I could see the deep green color. He had such beautiful eyes. I took a deep breath and forced myself not to think about what I was about to do. I was going to dance with Edward. We were going to do just fine.

I nodded my head "I'm ok."

He searched my eyes for some sign that I was going to fall apart. I'm not sure what he saw there but he nodded and took my hand again as the couple on stage were asked to step down.

"Just keep your eyes on me. I won't drop you."

Nigel called our names and we walked on stage, already falling into character. We had talked about doing an opener to the song, and as we hit center stage I dropped Edward's hand and stepped away from him. He glanced over at me like he was confused and I looked him in the eye and shook my head slowly. This opener would help set the tone for the dance, I just hoped Chris wouldn't ring us for adding something to his choreography.

He took a step towards me and I moved back raising my hand to stop him. His right hand locked itself around my left forearm, the opening move Chris had taught us and the music began.

_I can see it in your eyes.  
No more tears, no alibis.  
I'm still in love with you._

Edward twisted behind me, stilling holding my arm out in front of me. My back was flush with his chest and I matched my breathing to his. I twisted around and tried to pull away from him. He kept his hand locked around my arm and pulled me back to him.

_There's so much I gotta show.  
I will never let you go_.

I lifted my free hand up and let my fingers trail down his cheek. Everything fell away as I set myself into the emotion of the dance: The lights, the judges, the crowd. I forced everything out of my head except for Edward and our dance.

I pulled away again and Edward let me go. I only got a few steps away before I jerked to a stop. My character couldn't leave him behind. I glanced over my shoulder and held my hand out, waiting for him to take it.

_But still I know for sure.  
Come take me by the hand.  
This summer never ends._

He took my hand and pulled me back into his arms. We danced across the stage, moving in perfect time with each other. Edward spun me out in front of him and I stopped on my toes facing him. He held out his arms, inviting me back. I raced forward as fast as I could. This was the lift, one chance to get it right. I crossed the small space in two bounds and jumped.

_And I want to know that you believe in love again.  
Please tell me now it's not the end,  
'Cause this I promise you so true.  
The summer belongs to you._

Edward's hands locked around my forearms as he lifted me into the air for a vertical lift. I kicked my legs out, briefly noting that I hadn't kicked him in the face. Edward twisted me to the side and I landed on his shoulder. I used the balancing trick Chris had showed us to hold myself steady as Edward spun us around.

_Could you believe in love again?  
How can I make you understand?  
But, this I promise you so true.  
The summer belongs to you._

I pushed off of Edward's shoulder and jumped away from him as soon as I hit the ground. We danced on opposite sides of the stage, both trying to get back to the middle while at the same time not wanting to go back. Every time we faced each other I locked my eyes on his. Focusing on his face made it easier to keep my heart rate under control, and steady my breathing.

_The summer belongs to you._

At the end of the musical interlude we met at center stage. This time I was the one who locked my hand around Edward's arm and pulled him back to me when he tried to pull away. Our faces were only inches apart and I took the moment to match our breathing again.

Edward pulled away again and I let him go. He threw himself away from me and I didn't give chase. I spun slowly on my toes and walked away from him. I knew he would come back. I crossed my arms over my chest, took a deep breath, and let myself fall backwards.

_Would you catch me if I fall?  
Crash and burn and lose it all.  
Tell me what to do._

Edward's arms caught me before I came anywhere close to the ground. He pushed me back to my feet and took hold of my hand. I spun on my heel and tucked myself into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me for a second before putting his hands on my shoulders and pushed me a step away. He was giving me the chance to go. I took a step back and he held his hand out to me, just like I had done for him, giving me the chance to stay, or the change to run.

_'Cause I need you night and day,  
Will you ever run away?  
Just one more thing to say,  
Come take me by the hand.  
This summer never ends._

I only hesitated a moment before racing back to him. Edward grabbed my arm again and I locked my free arm around his neck. We had finally accepted the fact that neither one of us would leave the other. We danced again moving all the way to the far side of the stage before returning to the center again. I spun away from him making sure I didn't get too far away. Our fingers were always in contact.

It was time for the last flip. I locked my eyes on Edward's green ones and he nodded ever so slightly. I knew he would catch me. I spun back to him and as I neared him he placed his hands on my waist. At the least second I bent my knees and jumped, throwing myself into the air. Edward guided my body as I flipped over his shoulder.

_And I want to know that you believe in love again._  
_Please tell me now it's not the end.  
'Cause this I promise you so true,  
The summer belongs to you.  
Could you believe in love again?  
How can I make you understand?  
But this I promise you so true,  
The summer belongs to you._

As soon as my feet hit the ground I jumped back and wrapped my arms around his neck. I locked my legs around his waist and the last notes of the song faded away. I tucked my head into Edward's neck and tried to slow my breathing.

The audience clapped and Edward wrapped his arms around my legs, holding me up.

"Bella?"

I rested my chin on his shoulder and smiled. "Yes?"

"Come up here you two!"

Mary was yelling into her microphone and I jumped at just how loud she was. TV didn't do her any justice. I dropped to my feet and Edward wrapped his arm around my waist as we stepped forward. Mary was all smiles.

She commented on the dance and Nigel agreed it was one of the most emotional they had seen all night. His exact words were we had truly captured "the essence of what Chris was trying to portray". Once Mary and Nigel had given us their comments it was time for Chris to let us have it.

For the most part he had torn all of the groups apart even telling one group that small children would cry when they watched them dance.

He nodded a couple of times and pointed at me. "If you do not make it to the top twenty I'll be surprised."

I felt my jaw drop. Surely he wasn't talking to me? I glanced up at Edward who smiled down at me. Edward pushed me a step forward and his arm left my waist. I glanced back to the judges table.

"Sir.?"

Chris smiled at me. "You have the same quality to your dancing that I look for in all of my dancers. You put yourself into the dance on more than just a physical level. You find an emotional balance to your dancing. It's very impressive in someone your age."

My cheeks turned pink. "Thank you Sir, but I had a good partner."

Chris nodded. "Yes, Edward you are very impressive as well. I think this pairing was a perfect match."

Edward bowed his head slightly and I caught the corners of his mouth turn up before he composed his face.

"Thank you."

"I do have one question though." Chris continued. "What was that opener you did just before the music started?"

This was the part I had been fearing. "We thought it might add another layer to the dance, pull the audience in before the music even started."

He nodded slowly. "I usually would chew you out for trying to adjust my choreography, but in this case..." He paused for a second and my breathing caught in my throat. "I liked it."

Mary nodded along with him and folded her fingers together in front of her. "You're just a little Hot Tamale aren't you?!? I just know good things are going to come from both of you this year." Then she screamed again.

"I agree that this was a winning pair." Nigel said as he scribbled some notes down on the paper in front of him. I felt a stupid grin break out of my face. I've seen Mary talk about her "Hot Tamale Train" before on TV but, this was the first time she had even mentioned it this season.

I had always though it was kind of a stupid idea--winning tickets to a train that didn't exist. It was just something she did for the camera. But, I suddenly wanted nothing more than a first class trip. I would get on that train before my time on this show was over.

Nigel dismissed us before calling the next group out. Edward and I hurried off stage. We weaved our way around all of the equipment and climbed down the set of stairs that led back to the auditorium.

As soon as the door had shut behind us I spun around and threw my arms around Edward again. They had liked our dance! Chris hadn't said we sucked. I felt like happy dancing. Edward and I snuck around the back of the auditorium and made our way back to where the others were sitting.

Alice and Erik were gone so I assumed they were on deck. We watched as one by one all of the remaining couples danced. During hers and Emmett's dance, Amber had gone the wrong way and tripped forcing Emmett to make up for her mistake so the dance wouldn't fall behind.

Alice and Erik managed to finish without any major accident, but on both the lift and the flip it looked like Alice might end up falling. Jake and Leah were the most surprising. Leah's strength was a perfect compliment to Jake's and they finished the dance with flare. Mary and Nigel loved them and Chris said that they had done an admirable job, whatever that meant.

Once the last group had finished their dance and the cameras gave the signal to stop shooting we all gathered back at the hotel for dinner. We loaded up on chicken and mashed potatoes before going back to the auditorium to face the judge's cuts.

One at a time the judges recalled the groups on stage and gave their verdict. The first two groups were sent home and we watched as several more groups were split with one person going and one staying to fight in the last round.

Rosalie and her partner were called on stage. Rose's partner got a couple of nasty comments from Chris before he was dismissed and Rosalie joined the rest of us. Jasper and his partner Heidi were both welcomed to the last round, along with Angela and Mike.

Finally, it was time for Edward and I to face the judges. Mary said we did a great job. Nigel was expecting great things and Chris said he would see me in the finals when he returned to be a guest judge later in the season.

Alice and Erik were next and even though Chris didn't like them, Mary and Nigel agreed that they should go to the next round. Emmett had a hard time keeping a straight face as Amber got chewed out by Chris before she was asked not to come back.

By the end of the night another twenty seven dancers were cut and only forty of us would be going into the final round. Forty dancers fighting for twenty spots. Those numbers didn't exactly work out. Everyone was going to be fighting tooth and nail to make it to the top.

After Mary and Nigel said goodbye to the camera, one of the crew members gave the cut single and talking broke out. I let out a sigh and rubbed my hands over my eyes. This week was kicking my butt and a long hot shower was starting to sound really good.

"You look beat."

I peaked through my fingers and found Edward standing over me.

"I'm ok. Just tired."

He nodded. "It's been a long four days."

"Just one more round to go."

He offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet. "Come on. The others are waiting for us."

We found everyone else waiting in the back of the auditorium and together we walked back to the hotel.

* * *

~Darkrose  
Yeah! Another chapter! Now please review and let me know what you think.

With the help of some of my reviewers and a little more searching online. I did manage to find out about the apartments the couples stay in during the taping of the top twenty. I'm not sure if I'm going to make them stay in apartments or not. I think it might be more fun if they're all in the same building--more cut off from the rest of the city, more opportunities for drama and our young couple to discover their feelings for each other.  
I still have some time to work it out but we'll see.


	10. Confusion

This chapter wasn't written to anything in particular but it did give me the perfect idea for the next chapter. I wanted to develop the Edward/Bella relationship a little more and I think this chapter really helped move things along for our young couple.

As always I hope you like it and please let me know what you think.

Chapter 10- Confusion

* * *

POV- Bella

I woke up from a restless sleep and glanced at the small clock on the table between mine and Angela's bed. The florescent green lights said it was only 4:30 in the morning, a new record for me. I rolled over and tried to fall back asleep.

After another ten minutes it became clear that sleep was going to elude me once again. Something about this place was messing with my sleep patterns and it was slowly driving me crazy. I shuffled into the shower and let the warm water relax my tense muscles. I was going to start considering sleeping pills if I was going to keep trying to run on five hour nights.

I pulled on some yoga pants and twisted my wet hair into a bun. I pulled open the curtains and glanced out over the city. The sky was pretty dark and it looked like we might get more rain. Yippy. I pulled out my worn copy of Wuthering heights and curled into one of the plush chairs by the window and tried to lose myself in the familiar story.

"Gah." I groaned and tossed my book over Angela onto my bed. I couldn't focus on the book and try as I might I knew what was distracting me. It was the same thing that had woken me up and been the source of my wonderfully confusing dreams all last night.

We had all walked as a group back over to the hotel after the call backs last night. A bus was waiting outside to take the new cuts to the airport and friends were saying goodbye to their less fortunate roommates and dance partners.

The growing number of our group made it too hard for everyone to fit in the elevator and still let the doors close. I had offered to take the stairs and insisted that Angela and Ben get on the elevator. I knew Angela was still favoring her left leg and I hadn't wanted her to hurt herself any farther. I had just turned for the stairs when a warm, all too familiar hand had taken mine.

"I'll go with you Bella. That elevator is far too crowded for my tastes."

Edward and I had taken our time climbing the stairs in a comfortable silence and I had tried not to blush when he walked me all the way to the door of my room. I had unlocked the door with my pass key and turned back to say good night. We could hear the shower running and I knew I was going to have to wait to shower until morning. I was practically falling asleep in the hallway as it was and I wouldn't be able to wait until Angela was done.

I glanced up at him and smiled. "Goodnight Edward."

"Goodnight Bella." He had leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on my forehead before turning back to the stairwell and disappearing. I had been frozen in the doorway until my lungs screamed at me in protest of the lack of oxygen. As cheesy at is sounds, something about him always literally took my breath away.

The kiss had been short and sweet but my skin burned where his lips had touched. I backed into the room and changed into my pajamas. I stared at myself in the mirror, not quite recognizing my own reflection.

The girl in the mirror was flushed and her heart was pounding. She had my eyes but she didn't understand why they looked so much brighter than usual. She was wearing a tank-top in Edward's favorite color and when she closed her eyes she could still see a pair of green eyes watching her as she danced across the stage only a few hours earlier.

I stood up and tucked my book into my bag. I made sure the alarm was set to wake Angela up at six and slipped on my old sneakers. I grabbed my room key and shut the door behind me as quietly as I could.

The hotel was still sleeping and I didn't run into anyone as I descended the stairs and wandered into the open lobby. A woman behind the counter watched me as I crossed the room and stepped out onto the street. I had been in Las Vegas for almost a week and hadn't seen anything of the city other than the view from my window and the street our hotel was on. I was going exploring.

I glanced up and down the street but it was deserted. A few cars were on the road and the sun was just starting to peek up over the buildings. The sky looked a little less threatening but I was still willing to bet it would rain before the day was over.

I mentally flipped a coin and decided I would go left. I jogged down the street and crossed the road. We must have been in a quieter part of Las Vegas because I didn't see any strip malls or casinos with flashing lights. There were a few small bars and a ratty little strip club but other than that it was fairly quiet.

In fact, if the building had been a bit shorter and the plant life a little browner, I might have been able to trick myself into thinking I was back in the heart of Phoenix.

I checked my cell phone after I had gone a few blocks and decided I should probably walk back so I didn't wear myself down before the day had started. I'd always had good endurance for dancing but running wasn't really my strong point.

I bent down to retie my shoe and the scar on my ankle from when I had broken it glared at me like an ugly reminder of my biggest mistake. I stood back up swiftly and decided to screw walking. I was perfectly capable of running back to the hotel.

It had been almost two years since I had broken my ankle and I'd worked twice as hard since the accident to make sure my dancing didn't slip because of it. My physical therapist and my doctor back home had been amazed at how well it had healed, but I never took any chances with it. Another break and I would never dance again. I jogged down the street and had to weave around the people who were starting to emerge from their homes.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it and pushed myself to run faster, trying to clear my head of everything but my heart beat and the steady breaths I was taking. It buzzed again and I pulled it out to see who was calling me this early, it was Summer. I flipped the phone open and felt my mood improve marginally.

"Hey Summer, what's up?"

"Don't you 'what's up me'. How dare you hold back juicy gossip from your best friend! We're practically sisters. How could you not tell me?"

She sounded close to appalled and I stopped running so I could talk to her better.

"We've hardly spoken in the last four day's Summer. I've been so busy working for the callbacks. What are you talking about?"

She huffed and I could just picture her rolling her eyes at me.

"Sam's told me all about your new friends. Why didn't you tell me about them?: The little Jazz dancer from New York, the big guy who knows how to shake his hips, the twins from Austin?!? You've been holding out on me."

I chuckled and leaned my back against the closest building.

"Yeah, I know them all and I've met some other dancers too. They're really nice for the most part. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Don't worry. You're already forgiven, but there is one thing I can't believe you didn't tell me about. I almost didn't believe Sam when he told me but we watched the audition tapes together again so he could point out the dancers he recognized and he swore it was him but-"

I cut off her babbling hoping she would hurry up and get to the point.

"Sam told you what?"

"You've got the hots for that Edward guy. The one who did that sexy ballroom number for his audition with that blond girl. He's so attractive Bella, I'm almost-"

My face flushed and I made a mental note to kill Sam slowly when I got home. I was going to relish in his pain. "I do not have the hots for Edward."

She tsked at me from the other side of the phone and I could see her shaking her head back and forth. The way she did when she thought she knew something so obvious that I didn't.

"Sam also told me you were in some major denial about it. Apparantly he talked to Emmett and he thinks that Edward really likes you too. That's why I called you. I figured you would want to talk about him."

"You shouldn't believe everything Sam tells you."

She ignored me and continued with her previous stream of conversation. "What's he like? Tell me all about him. I bet he's nice. Sam told me a little but he didn't know him that well. He seemed to believe you two were a lot closer."

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. Maybe I should talk about it and there was no one I would rather talk to than Summer. She would blab to the entire state of Arizona but she wouldn't be able to get her hands on any of the other dancers to gossip about me.

"I don't really know too much about him yet Summer, but he is really nice." ...and kind and polite and beautiful. He was a great dancer and he loves his family. He plays the piano and has starred in almost every dream I've had since my first night here. Could it be true that Emmett told Sam, Edward liked me?

"Just tell me what you do know and I'll help you translate it."

I sighed and started at the beginning. I told her about how I had first met Edward and Emmett and gave her the basics of all of my new friends including Angela, and the cunning little Alice with her devious plots.

"- and then the next morning he showed up at my hotel room at five in the morning because Emmett had kicked him out in his pajamas."

She howled with laughter and I waited for her to regain control of herself.

"Did you let him in?" She asked and I could hear the suggestion under her question. I knew the stupid look that would be on her face and the way her eyebrows would wiggle as she suggested what had happened with Edward in my room.

I decided to play ignorance and answered her honestly. "Of course I let him in. He was in his pajamas. I wouldn't have made him sit in the hallway."

"And what did you two do while he was in your hotel room at five in the morning."

"We didn't do _anything_ Summer. My roommate was still sleeping in the same room. Honestly, Summer get your mind out of the gutter."

She chuckled. "But my mind likes to be in the gutter, it's so much more fun there."

"You're incorrigible Summer."

"No, you had totally hot, totally available Edward Cullen in your hotel room and didn't do anything with him. Even with your roommate there you could have done something, anything. You're telling me you didn't even try to make a move on him?"

"No I didn't. We just talked."

I could see her rolling her eyes again. "And what did you talk about? I bet it was completely innocent and boring just like the rest of your love life."

I rolled my eyes again, what love life? I didn't have one. "We talked about family and friends and our lives back home. It was a very nice conversation."

"Have you done anything _more fun_ with him?"

I could hear her emphasis on "more fun" so I decided to toss her a bone. She wouldn't be satisfied until she got something juicier to talk about.

"Well, I should make you wait until it airs next week-"

She cut me off. "Until what airs!?! What is it? Tell me! I can't wait another two days. I'm going crazy for information here. Everyone keeps asking me how you're doing and I don't have anything to tell them. I always have something to tell them."

"Summer slow down."

I heard her take a deep breath.

"I would much appreciate it if you didn't spread things around about my time here. Let everyone else see it on TV, especially my mom. I don't want you to spoil it for her."

"Tell me what?" She demanded slowly and I could hear the strain in her voice as she struggled to calm herself down.

I smirked at the phone, glad I finally had something to hold over her. I had valuable information for Summer's gossip line and I should really demand some kind of payment for what I was about to share with her.

"I got to dance round four of the callbacks with Edward."

She squealed and I held the phone away from my ear until she was done. "What kind of dance?"

"It was a contemporary number by Chris Skobel."

"I've heard of him. He's supposed to be pretty scary. What song?"

"He was terrifying. Love again by: Cascada. It was a dance about two lovers struggling to admit their feelings for each other."

She squealed again. "Perfect, And?"

"And nothing, it was a beautiful dance. Edward's a great dancer and I had a good time working with him. We really got to know each other better as dancers-"

She cut me off.

"And there's something you're not telling me Isabella Marie Swan. I'm your best friend and I can tell when you're lying to me so don't even try it."

"I'm not lying. It's the truth."

"Then there's something you're not telling me because it's not the whole truth."

I huffed at her. There was something I hadn't told her about. Something I hadn't told anyone about and I wasn't sure I was ready to yet.

"Bella." Summer said in her 'stern' voice.

I sighed and chewed on my lip. "I don't really know Summer. It was probably nothing."

"What was?" She insisted.

"He walked me back to my room last night."

"That's whats got you all worked up? Did he at least try to follow you into your room once you got there?"

I shook my head even though I knew she wouldn't be able to see it. "No, that's not it. He's a gentleman."

"That's a shame. You could really use a dose of bad boy for your sex life."

I paused for a second and decided to just say it. I was sure it didn't mean anything anyway. Why on earth would he possible be interested in me anyway? It was clear that Tanya liked him and she had known him so much longer than I had.

Summer didn't like my attempts to stall. "Bella?"

"He kissed me."

I practically heard her jaw drop and regretted telling her at once. She was going to make a big deal about this and I really just wanted to move on. I couldn't afford any distractions right now and Edward was turning into a bigger distraction than I would have thought.

"He did not!?! Tell me you kissed that boy back. He is super fine Bella. You would have to be some kind of fool not-"

I checked the time on my phone and jumped when I saw it was 6:30. I had been out too long and if I didn't hurry back I was going to be late. I didn't know what would happen to me if I was late and I really didn't want to find out.

"Summer, I wasn't watching the clock. I've really got to go. I'm sorry. Call me later."

I hung up my phone without waitting for her to say good bye and shoved it into my pocket. I turned quickly and started racing down the road. The sidewalks were starting to fill up and there were a lot more cars on the road as people headed to work for the day.

I wasn't paying attention to what was going on around me and by the time I heard the horn blaring at me a big blue van was practically on top of me. I froze on the crosswalk and watched as my life played out before my eyes. I briefly thought about my mom and how she was going to kill me for dying but then my thoughts centered on a pair of green eyes.

"Bella, Move!"

Something warm and hard crashed into my side and I was thrown backwards. Two strong arms locked around my waist as we hit the ground and I heard tires screech to a stop on the tar. I hit my head as we fell and another horn went off as we rolled across the road.

The breath was forced from my lungs and spots bloomed in front of my eyes as my vision blurred. People on the sidewalk were yelling and whoever had grabbed me was kneeling over me calling my name. At least I think it was my name, my ears were ringing. Why was everyone yelling?

"Bella, Bella are you ok?"

I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples as I tried to catch my breath. My ears had stopped ringing and all the voices were becoming painfully clear and loud as my head throbed. I opened my eyes and waited as my vision came into focus and I found Edward kneeling over me. Those same green eyes watching me as I tried to put together what had just happened.

"Edward?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and blew out a breath that he must have been holding. He had pushed me out of the way. I wasn't dead, I could smell blood but, I wasn't dead. Why was he out here?

"Thank god." He glared down at me. "What the hell are you doing out here? You almost got yourself killed. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

I tried to sit up and he pushed me back down so I was lying on the hard road.

"Don't sit up. You hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm fine."

"Don't be stubborn Bella." He snapped at me as he folded his sweat shirt up and placed it under my head. The shirt smelled like him and I took a couple deep breaths to try and calm myself down. He held his finger in front of my face and told me to focus on it.

He checked my pulse and then gave me permission to sit up, slowly.

"Are you crazy Lady?!? What the hell were you doing in the road? Didn't you hear the horn?"

I jumped and regretted it instantly as my head pulsed. The blue van that had almost run me over was stopped on the street, along with a few other cars and we had a nice little group of onlookers watching as the driver of the van yelled at us.

"Have you ever heard of looking both ways? Holy hell chick."

I opened my mouth to apologize, but Edward spoke up for me, turning on the driver as he descended on us.

"You were turning left at a green light asshole! Haven't you ever heard that pedestrians have the right of way? You're lucky I haven't called the police yet. You could have killed her!"

The driver blanched for a second. Then glanced at me. I looked down at myself and saw what he was seeing. My clothes were covered in dirt and my pants were torn at the knee. My arms were cut up and the palms of my hands were scraped up. I was bleeding from a gash on my arm and the smell was starting to make me sick. Ugh, and I was dizzy.

"Are you ok?" He asked appearing to see me for the first time.

I nodded and Edward stepped in front of me blocking me from his view.

"I'll take care of her but; I think it would be best if you left now."

The driver apologized before getting back into his car. Once the onlookers had heard I wasn't seriously hurt they had all started moving on and traffic was starting to move again. I got my feet under me and tried to push myself up.

My head pounded with the movement and I wobbled as the street lurched in a way that had to be impossible. Was the street moving or was it me? It was probebly a good thing my stomack was empty or the motion of the road probebly would have made me sick.

"Bella, don't try to walk yet."

Edward wrapped his arms around me as I fell forward and he carefully lifted me up bridal style. It must have been me falling, rather then the road moving because the street came back into focus right where it had been before once I wasn't moving.

"I can walk Edward." I said stubornly as he started walking down the road.

"Sure didn't look like it. My father's a doctor remember. I know a little bit about head wounds. Emmett was a very accident prone child. It was always my job to make sure he didn't get into trouble."

I chuckled at that and my head throbbed again. Note to self, no more sudden movements. Edward's arms tightened around me and I rested my head against his chest, trying not to bleed on him. "Thank you."

I glanced up at him and he held my eye. He let out another long breath and nodded slowly.

"No problem."

I rested my head against his chest again and closed my eyes. I shouldn't have gotten up so early, I was so sleepy. I could take a nap right here and- Edward shook his arms and I groaned as my head throbbed again. Why did he go and do that?

"Hey, no sleeping until I get someone to look at you. Bella, look at me. Bella?"

I looked up at him again and forced my eyelids back. I focused my vision on his eyes and tried to calm my pounding head. The sun was so bright now. Where had all the nice dark clouds gone?

"I'm ok."

He shook his head. "You hit your head harder then I thought. I'm going to have one of the show medics look at you. I want to make sure you don't have a concussion."

I kept my eyes on his face and the pounding started to recede a little. He had such a beautiful face. I was almost jealous. I hadn't realized we were at the studio until he was walking through the doors. A crew man in black descended on us in a panic when he saw our dirty clothes and bloody arms.

He was talking very loud and I closed my eyes, tucking my head back into Edward's chest as he explained everything. It wasn't exactly a lie. He just failed to mention the fact that I had gone out for an early morning jog and that it had been my fault we had both almost been killed.

"Some idiot in a van almost hit us down the road. I'm fine, but Bella hit her head pretty bad. Where's the medic?"

"Down the hall. Follow me."

Edward started to walk again and he must have noticed I shut my eyes because he shook me again and disturbed my attempts to fall asleep. His arms were very comfortable.

"Bella, open your eyes. Look at me, no sleeping."

I did as he asked and kept my eyes locked on his face as he walked us to the medic's room. A chair scraped across the floor as we entered and I winced at the sound. I had a pounding headache but my vision was clearer and I wasn't having any trouble breathing.

"What happened?"

The crew man spoke to the doctor and Edward sat me gently on one of those bed things doctors have with the crunchy paper on it. The room was white and looked like a cross between a makeshift hospital and my high school nurse's office. I had spent more time than I would like to admit in the nurse's office with walking related injuries.

The doctor came over and checked my pulse. He did the same thing with a flashlight that Edward had done with his finger and asked me if my vision was clear.

I nodded and did my best to ignored the pain in the back of my head.

"I'm ok. I just have a headache."

The doctor nodded and checked Edward quickly before giving me a few pain killers for my head.

"It could have been a lot worse. I think you were very lucky Bella."

I nodded and glanced up at Edward who was still standing next to me. He hadn't left my side since the accident. "I know I am."

The doctor had us wash our arms in his sink with some special antibacterial, funny smelling soapy stuff and then he wrapped the largest of my cuts, a deeper gash on my forearm, with gauze before declaring us fit to leave.

"I want you both to take it easy today and Bella if you start feeling dizzy I want you back here immediately, understand? Don't try to be brave. If you start feeling really sleepy, I want you back here."

I nodded. "Yes Sir."

He smirked. "Good girl. Edward, you too. Anything at all and you come back."

"I'm fine." Edward said and he wrapped an arm around me. "I'll watch her."

Edward was helping me to my feet when the door to the medic's room opened and Nigel walked in with the crew man who had helped Edward and I earlier.

He glanced us over taking in our dirty clothes and my bandaged arm and nodded to himself.

"Jeff told us there had been an accident, are you both ok?"

We nodded and Edward kept his arm wrapped around my waist as I wobbled momentarily on my feet.

"Just a little shaken."

A camera man followed him in and I flushed when the red light on his camera turned on. They were going to tape this for the show. My mom and Summer were going to flip out. Not that I had landed myself in the hospital, but at the fact that Edward was the one who had saved me. I knew very well Summer was going to tell Renee all about Edward and this was only going to make them gossip worse.

Nigel asked us what happened and filled us in on what we had missed in the auditorium. The last round was going to be solos. We could do any song we wanted and any style of our choosing. The studio was open for use and they would be filming at the same time as they did everyday.

"I'm afraid we can't give you any extra time even with your accident and you're already a bit behind the others. I want you both to do your best and I will inform Mary and our guest judge about your accident. We will take it into consideration when you perform."

Nigel turned to the doctor. "I am assuming of course that you haven't benched them. They can still dance, can't they?"

The doctor didn't look like he was too happy about it but he nodded. "Yes, they can still dance but I want you both to take it easy, end of story."

Nigel and the camera man disappeared and Edward helped me into the lobby. We sat down on a bench along the wall and he looked me over again.

"Are you sure you're ok Bella?"

I nodded again. "Thanks to you. That van would have crushed me if you hadn't pushed me out of the way."

He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his neck. "What were you even doing out there?"

The memory of his kiss flooded back to me and I looked away from him. I had been trying to clear my head of him but I certainly wasn't going to tell him that.

"I was just running, trying to forget about the competition for a little while. Summer called and I got distracted. I didn't realize how late it was so I was rushing to get back." A curious thought crossed my mind and I glanced up at him. "What were you doing out there?"

The tips of his ears turned pink and he ran his hands through his hair again. "I was looking for you. You didn't answer when I came to see you this morning so I though maybe you were finally catching up on your sleep. When Angela came down for breakfast, she thought you were with me. When we couldn't find you in the hotel or the studio, I went looking for you. I thought you might have wandered outside and lost track of the time."

He had come looking for me? They had all been so worried about me. I was touched at how much these people cared about me after only a few days.

"I'm glad you did Edward. I wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't come looking for me."

He glanced down at me and I tried to read the emotions playing out on his face. He shook his head and took my hand again, holding it in his larger ones like he was confirming the fact that I was really sitting here next to him.

He stared at our hands for a little while before he spoke again. When he spoke again his voice was soft and he squeezed my hand again.

"I thought I was too late." He looked up at me and I blushed under his powerful gaze. "I called your name before you ran into the street but you didn't hear me. When I saw the van turn the corner, I panicked." He brushed a strand of hair out of my face and I leaned into his hand.

"I'm fine Edward. You got there in time."

He nodded. "When you didn't open your eyes right away I thought maybe you had still somehow been hit."

I leaned into his side and rested my forehead against his shoulder. My heart was pounding and I took a few deep breaths to calm myself, breathing in his sent. I couldn't describe the scent with any words. I'd never smelled anything like it before, but I loved it. It was just Edward and the scent comforted me in strange ways.

I glanced up at him and found him sitting with his eyes closed, much like I had been. He seemed to be enjoying my company as much as I enjoyed his. I took a deep breath and mustered my courage before leaning up farther and kissing the underside of his jaw. He seemed startled by my move and when he glanced down at me his eyes seemed to be a darker shade of green.

"Thank you, Edward."

He grinned and me and placed another kiss on my forehead. "Anytime"

"Bella! Edward? What the hell happened to you guys?"

I jumped and pressed my hand against my forehead to calm the pounding after the sudden movement. Angela, Alice and Jasper were standing over us and Alice's eyes were fixed on my torn clothes and bandaged arm.

"Are you guys ok?" Angela asked sitting down on my free side and looking me over.

I nodded and let Edward talk as he explained about our almost car crash and the visit to the medic.

"Did you get his name? Are you pressing charges?" Jasper asked. It surprised me how upset he was at our accident. I hadn't had much of a chance to get to know Jasper yet, but seemed to care about us just as much as Alice or Angela.

I shook my head. "No, it was as much my fault as his. I didn't look before I jumped into the street."

"But are you ok Bella? You look awful." Angela asked.

"I'm fine. I could have been a lot worse."

Alice grimaced as she looked me over again. "You guys need to change. Those clothes are history."

I nodded and glanced over at Edward. He helped me to my feet and offered to walk me to the hotel and back so we could both change. We convinced our friends that we were ok and Alice set off on a mission to let the others know what had happened to us.

Edward picked me up and carried me across the street. He dropped me off at my room and left me to get changed so he could run up to his room quick.

I picked though my clothes and found a clean shirt and a new pair of dance pants I could work in. I brushed out my hair and shoved my room key and I-pod into my pocket. I selected a pair of cloth flats to wear. With the problems I was still having with balance, I certainly wasn't going to try dancing in heels today.

Edward knocked on the door and let me walk as we headed back over to the studio. We found some space in a small studio upstairs where Angela, Ben, Leah, and Erik were all working. They each had their I-pods plugged in and were dancing to their individual music.

They welcomed us in and we had to retell the story about the van for Leah, Erik and Ben before they would let us start working. I convinced Edward I was ok and sat down in the corner to stretch. I turned on my favorite play list and let it start running through songs.

As I flipped through the songs, hunting down the right one to dance to, I stretched. I was sore from lack of sleep and from the van mishap but I forced all of that out of my head. I took a ridiculously long time to stretch out my whole body and loosen all of my tense muscles.

Edward was working just across from me and every time he caught me watching him I would blush and glance back down at my toes. In my own defense I caught him watching me just as many times. By the time I was ready to actually start working I knew exactly what song I wanted to dance my solo to. It was perfect and I wouldn't be dancing just for myself this time around.

* * *

~Darkrose

This chapter is my favorite so far and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Please let me know what you think and I hope to have the next chapter up very soon. I know exactly what song I want to do it to.


	11. Improvising

This chapter was inspired by "Next to you" By Jordin Sparks. I love her work and I already know I'm going to use one of her songs later in the story but I'll try not to use any artist more than once or twice. I want to keep a wide variety of music in this story.  
If you have any song suggestions for any type of dance or any particular pair let me know and I'll see if it will work in the story. I have an outline for the rest of it down but I still need filler dances and songs for the side characters to dance to.

Chapter 11- Improvising

* * *

POV-Bella

My work was slow. I could see the dance in my head but I was never able to make it all the way to the end before I would have to stop and rest. If I spun too hard I would get dizzy and I had already gone to get another set of painkillers from the doctor.

"Here, drink some more water. You'll feel better."

Angela handed me her water bottle and sat down on the floor next to me. I had been watching her solo as it developed and I was looking forward to seeing the finished product. Angela's background in Broadway was a lot of fun and far different than anything I had ever done.

"Thanks, Angela." I took her bottle and sipped at the cold water.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as I passed the bottle back to her.

I shrugged. "I could be better."

"It's almost lunch time. If you take it easy you should be feeling better afterwards."

I nodded and let my head fall back carefully to rest against the wall behind me. "I hope so. At this rate I won't be able to make it through my entire solo."

"The judges know about your accident. They won't mark you down for it."

I shook my head. "Yes, they will. There are only twenty spots left. They have to cut our number in half. They'll be looking for any excuse to get rid of someone. I think this might be the end of my run."

"Don't say that Bella. The judges love you. Chris even said he thought you would make it to the finals yesterday. That's huge Bella and it'll count today. I know you'll be fine."

"Thanks Angela."

She smiled at me before heading back to her corner of the room and plugging her music back in. I watched her for a while before my eyes drifted over to where Erik was working. He caught me watching him in the mirror and winked at me. I giggled and gave him a thumbs up. He shook his butt at me before getting back to his dance and I rolled my eyes.

Ben was working quietly. He'd been off in his own little world the whole time. His music was plugged into his ears and he was counting quietly to himself. I let my eyes travel past Ben and found Leah. She was sitting with her back to the mirror. This was the first time I had seen her take a break all morning.

The only person left was Edward. He was in the corner across from me. His music playing in his ears as he danced to a beat I couldn't hear. His dance was slower than the others, similar to the tempo of my solo. Latin/Ballroom wasn't the easiest style to use for a solo and I enjoyed watching Edward work. He really was a great dancer.

Edward spun and stopped so he was facing the mirror wall. He was breathing hard and his hair was wet with sweat. He caught my eye in the reflection and smiled at me. I nodded once in recognition and pushed myself to my feet.

My head was still kind of fuzzy but the pounding had receded. My vision was clear and I seemed to be recovering from the accident. I gathered my things and joined with the others as they made their way to the door.

As Edward joined me, he held out his arms. "Shall I carry you Mi'lady?"

"I am perfectly capable of walking, kind Sir, but thank you."

He didn't argue but he kept his hands on my hips as we descended the stairs. We found the others waiting for us in the dining hall and this time they had pulled a second large table over so we could spread out some more and eat without bumping into each other. Emmett jumped Edward and I as we sat down and demanded to know why he hadn't been informed immediately of his brother's accident.

"I wasn't badly hurt Emmett. Just a few scrapes and bruises. It's nothing."

Emmett didn't seem pacified and he sulked into his food. "They still should have told me. What if you had been hurt?"

"Aww was someone worried about his little brother?" Tanya teased and she poked Emmett in the side. Emmett scowled at her and she smiled sheepishly at him.

"Of course I was. Alice races into the studio and tells me that Edward and Bella almost got run over and that was why they missed breakfast. No crew men, no answers. If Alice hadn't come and found me I wouldn't have had any idea."

Edward smiled at his brother. "It's nice to know you care."

Emmett mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'irksome little brat' but then he returned to his food and table conversation shifted to more posative topics. Angela and Ben were discussing their solos. They both had backgrounds in Broadway and they were arguing various styles and shows they had worked with.

As soon as I started eating I found I was ravenous. I cleared my plate and downed two and a half cups of juice. The sugar felt amazing and I was feeling stronger once I had finished.

"Someone was hungry." Edward said as he offered to fill my glass again.

I passed on the juice and leaned back in my chair. "Near death experiences make one hungry."

"You were in shock. I should have made you eat some sugar earlier."

"What happened to all those pre-med classes you took?" Emmett asked as he turned to join our conversation. "Didn't you learn about things like that?"

Edward glared at his brother. "Shut up Emmett."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok, down kitty. I was only kidding."

Edward rolled his eyes at his brother and I gave him an understanding smile. Emmett didn't mean any harm by his comments. Edward offered to clear my plate for me and at five to one we all got up to head back to the studio.

"Edward, Bella."

The crew man named Jeff stopped us in the lobby.

"The doctor would like to see you both again before you get back to work."

He led us back down a side hallway and into the doctor's makeshift hospital room. Dr. Andrews was waiting for us.

"Edward, Bella how are you both feeling?"

Edward nodded and helped me up onto the paper covered cot thing again. "I'm fine."

Doctor Andrews didn't seem surprised at Edward's condition and he checked my eyes with his flashlight again. "And how are you feeling Bella, any more dizziness?"

"A little bit earlier, but I'm feeling much better now that I've had something to eat."

He nodded and gave me another dose of aspirin. "You both look just fine. I'm sure you will make quick recoveries. I just hope this won't affect your routines tonight."

I nodded along. I had been fine in rehearsal as long as I didn't whip my head around or spin to fast. I would have to be careful, but I wasn't going to let this stop me. Dr. Andrews scribbled some notes down on a sheet with my name on it before turning back to glance at Edward.

"I had a chance to talk to your father earlier Edward. He would like it if you called him as soon as possible."

"Is anything wrong?" Edward seemed momentarily panicked.

"No, no." Dr. Andrews raised a hand in a sign of comfort. "I had to inform him about your accident and he wants to talk to you. Apparently he was unable to reach your cell phone."

Edward pulled a small silver phone out of his pocket and glanced down at it.

"It's dead."

"That would explain it then. He just wanted to check on you."

"Did you call my parents?" I asked suddenly concerned. I had left my phone up in my room after changing and my mother was known to over react. I could only imagine the conclusions she would jump to when she couldn't reach me.

"I left a message for her at home. I'm required to call immediate family when any of the dancers get injured."

I groaned and Edward wrapped an arm over my shoulders.

"Are you ok Bella?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but my mom's probably having a fit right now. My phones back at the hotel."

"I wouldn't worry about it Bella." The Doctor said adding something to my health sheet. "I did manage to reach your father when your mother didn't answer and he seemed to take the news ok. I let him know that you weren't seriously hurt and that you would be continuing in the contest."

My jaw fell and I was sure my eyes were bugging out of my skull. He had called Charlie?

"You called my dad?"

Dr. Andrews didn't understand my confusion. "He is listed on your emergency numbers list. I thought he might be able to reach your mom and let her know you're ok."

The show had asked for three emergency numbers when I signed up. My mom was the first, Summer's house was the second and I had put Charlie down only because I needed another number. I never thought they would actually call him.

"He can't talk to my mom. They haven't spoken in years. They got divorced when I was little."

"Bella, it'll be ok. Charlie will be glad to know that you're ok." Edward said patting my hand. I nodded along and sighed.

"You don't get it. Charlie didn't know I was coming on the show. I haven't seen him in almost four years."

Dr. Andrews didn't seem to know what to say and Edward chuckled at me.

"Well, that puts you in an awkward position doesn't it?"

I got to my feet and grabbed my sweater. "Tell me about it."

We returned to the studio and I tried to forget about my parents. I would call Renee later and ask if she had heard from Charlie. For now I was going to lose myself in my music and nail my solo for the judges.

I took a few minutes to warm up and then plugged my I-pod in so I could work. The others had returned to their individual work and I knew none of them would interrupt me. I glanced at the clock. We had four hours before it would be time to head to the auditorium.

Four hours fly by when you're performing below par and before I could blink it was time to gather downstairs. I grabbed my things and followed after Edward as we walked downstairs with the others. Alice and Rosalie were waiting for us and it wasn't long before the others all showed up.

Mary and Nigel were on stage and I gasped at our guest judge. Edward and I had missed the opening taping so we hadn't had a chance to see who would be watching our solos along with the normal judges. I hadn't thought about it before, but now that I could see him, I was starting to panic.

It was Tyce Diorio. He had always been one of my favorite choreographers on the show and I was going to get to perform for him. Tyce almost always did Broadway routines and most of my personal favorites had been his big group numbers. He was practically a legend on the show.

The crew men cued the judges to begin taping and everyone fell silent. Men in black were running around grabbing the first of the dancers and getting people into place. Mary talked to the camera and explained how the last round of callbacks would go.

"-After all of the solos are performed, it will be up to Nigel, Tyce, and myself to decide who will get the chance to show their stuff on live TV and compete for your votes America."

Nigel called the first name and a tall man with long blond hair walked on stage. I had seen him before but never had the chance to work with him. His name was James and he had a style all his own. His roots seemed to be in Rock, but I could see some Hip-Hop in his dance as well.

One by one, dancers performed their last chance to get into the finals. Alice wore a top hat and danced with a cane in her fun, jazzy solo. Angela danced to a wild song from Hair. Emmett rocked the stage as only Emmett could and then it was my turn. Jake was on right before me so I didn't get to see his dance, but I sung along to the lyrics backstage. We had spent many a rainy Forks summer day lounging in various parts of each other's houses singing to the radio and the song he had chosen had been pretty big a few years ago.

"This ain't a scene. It's a goddamned arms race.  
This ain't a scene. It's a goddamned arms race.  
This ain't a scene. It's a goddamned arms race.  
I'm not a shoulder to cry on  
But I digress."

I wasn't paying attention and I hadn't realized the song was over until Nigel spoke and dismissed Jake. The judges hadn't been talking to all of the dancers. They made short comments on some, expressed disappointment on a few, and for some like Jake they didn't say anything.

"Our next soloist is Bella Swan."

I took a deep breath and stepped out on stage. I was wearing a simple practice dress over my leggings. It was light brown and left my scraped arm's bare. I saw Mary's eyes fall to my bandaged arm and wished I had worn something with long sleeves. I didn't want to move on because of judge's pity. I wanted to earn my way to the top fairly.

"Whenever you're ready Miss Swan you can start."

I walked to center stage and sat down. I had decided to start my solo sitting down after my first attempt to spin this morning had landed me on my butt and left the room swirling sickeningly around me. I glanced over my shoulder and caught the eye of the sound guy. He hit a button on the sound system and my song rang throughout the room.

The song started slowly, some opening humming and soft drumming. I lifted my hands above my head and slowly woke my body to the dance. As the lyrics started I fell to my side and acted along with the opening words.

_Two 'o clock and I wish that I was sleeping  
You're in my head like a song on the radio  
All I know is that I got to get next to you  
Yeah I got to get next to you_

_Sitting here turning minutes into hours  
To find the nerve just to call you on the telephone  
Cuz you don't know that I got to get next to you_

I rubbed my eyes like I was having trouble sleeping and cupped my hands over my ears like I had a song stuck in my head. I rolled over, sat on the stage and nervously glanced at the clock on the wall. I twisted around and pushed myself to my feet.

When I faced forward I let my eyes roam the room. He was sitting right where I had left him. His eyes met mine and whenever I faced forwards I locked my gaze on him. He had been the inspiration behind my song choice.

_Maybe we're friends  
Maybe we're more  
Maybe it's just my imagination  
But I see you stared just a little too long  
And it makes me start to wonder  
So baby call me crazy  
But I think you feel it too  
Maybe I, Maybe I  
Just got to get next to you_

I swung my hips to the lyrics and let them lead as I moved forward. This song had all the moves of a Samba or a Rumba but at a tempo more suited to Contemporary. During practice I had felt kind of dizzy and hadn't wanted to rush moving too fast. I was feeling better now.

I broke from my planned routine and found myself staring at Edward again. My face flushed and I could feel the exact spot on my forehead where he had kissed me earlier. Maybe I was wrong and had let my imagination get the best of me, but it had seemed like he cared for me, more than the others did. I was starting to realize that I cared for him more than I should.

I didn't know what to make of his behavior. He walked me to me room, he went looking for me when I was missing. That had to mean something right? Maybe it was just his nature to be polite. His mom had raised him right and it wasn't like I was anything special. Why would he find me interesting when he could have someone like Tanya?

_I asked around and I heard that you were talking  
Told my girl that you thought I was out of your league  
What a fool, I got to get next to you, whoa  
Yeah it's five in the morning and I can't go to sleep  
'Cause I wish, yeah I wish that you knew what you mean to me  
Baby let's get together and end this mystery, oh_

After my talk with Summer a few thing had fallen into place, even if I hadn't been ready to admit them to myself. I did have the "hots for Edward" as Summer had so eloquently put it. How could I not fall for him? He was so perfect. I knew so little about him but everything I had managed to learn in the past few days had been positive.

I was going to have to talk to Sam myself. If he had really talked to Emmett maybe he would tell me exactly what Edward had said about me. I could see other signs of my silly crush on Edward now that I was trying to find them.

I had never had problems sleeping in new places before coming here. I hardly suffered from jet lag and there was nothing uncomfortable about the bed in my hotel room. The only thing off about my sleep here was the vivid dreams I had been having. Every night, a pair of green eyes watched me and every morning I woke up earlier than I usually would.

_Maybe we're friends  
Maybe we're more  
Maybe it's just my imagination  
But I see you stare just a little too long  
And it makes me start to wonder  
So baby call me crazy  
But I think you feel it too  
Maybe I, Maybe I  
Just got to get next to you._

I didn't know what I was doing anymore on stage. I had completely abandoned the preset dance I had worked on upstairs. The dance just came to me as I listened to the lyrics and I let my body do whatever it wanted. I had always enjoyed the freedom solos offered dancers. I could do whatever I liked and no one would know it wasn't the original plan.

I centered my focus on Edward again and he held my gaze as I danced, my movements pulled in his direction as I spun, again directing my dance to where he was sitting. I was probably blowing this whole thing out of proportion but I had to know if he liked me. Once I heard him say that we were just friends, I would be able to sleep again. A part of me would be crushed that my feelings weren't returned, but I would be able to sleep.

_Whatcha got to say? Whatcha got to do?  
How ya get the one you want  
__to want to get next to you?_

_Whatcha got to say? Whatcha got to do?  
How ya get the one you want  
__to want to get next to you?_

_Whatcha got to say? Whatcha got to do?  
How ya get the one you want  
__to want to get next to you?_

_Whatcha got to say? Whatcha got to do?  
How ya get the one you want  
__to want to get next to you?  
Yeah, yeah, to want to get next to you_

I pulled my gaze away from Edward and glanced over at the judges table. I had forgotten about them and I started panicking. I pulled myself together and moved farther back on the stage. As I moved to the slow tempo I let my feelings come out in my dancing.

Dance had always been a form of escape for me. No matter what I was feeling I could portray it in Dance. Right now I was pretty confused. I was developing feelings for a guy way out of my league. I was probably still a little muddled from almost being run over this morning and I had just completely improvised my solo in front of the judges.

_Maybe we're friends  
Maybe we're more  
Maybe it's just my imagination  
But I see you stare just a little too long  
And it makes me start to wonder  
So baby call me crazy  
But I think you feel it too  
Maybe I, Maybe I  
Just got to get next to you_

_  
_As the music fell away my gaze dropped to Edward once more. He clapped his hands together softly in front of him and smiled at me. At least he had liked it. Maybe I hadn't completely blown my chance. I turned to face the judges and waited to see if they would ask me anything.

If I were the judges, I would have a few questions lined up. The first one that came to mind was something along the lines of "was I on crack?" I couldn't even remember most of my solo and I had just danced it. I had completely let the dance fall away and had focused my thoughts on other things, another person.

Nigel jotted something down on his sheet and glanced up at me.

"How are you feeling Bella?"

Not a question I would have started with but it was better than negative marks I guess. The other judges waited for my answer and I knew he had done what he said he would and told them about my accident.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"If Nigel hadn't told us you had been in an accident I wouldn't have guessed it." Mary said, as she too scribbled something down on the paper in front of her.

"Thank you."

Tyce didn't say anything but he smiled when I looked at him. I wanted to turn tail and run. I had probably just made myself look like a moron in front of Tyce Diorio. Nigel dismissed me and called the next name.

I turned my back on the judges and slipped back stage. It was dark behind the curtains and I fumbled with the door before I managed to get out. I leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths. I was going to have to get one more dose of aspirin from the doctor. My dance had brought back a small headache.

Once I was in control of my body again I quietly made my way to where the others were sitting. Edward's eyes locked with mine as I took the seat next to him and I briefly noted that Tanya and Jasper were gone.

"That was beautiful, Bella."

I flushed and smiled at him. "Thanks, I just hope it was enough."

"I don't think you need to worry about it."

"Why not?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I just have a feeling you're going to do very well in this contest."

I bit down on my lip to keep from asking why again and turned back to the stage. I managed to avoid catching his eye again as Tanya and Jasper both danced. Rosalie killed her solo with a hot southern style dance and then went back for seconds. There wasn't a doubt in my mind she was going to make it to the top. It was just a matter of how far America would take her.

Ben's dance was hilarious and the crew guys were desperately trying to get everyone to be quiet for the taping. Leah surprised me by choosing a native style song to dance to, but she danced it in a way that effortlessly mixed her culture with Hip-hop.

All of the dancers I had come to know danced their hearts out of stage for the chance to go on. Erik, Jane, Mike, Monica and so many more I still didn't know. I certainly could pick out my favorites among the individuals, but my opinions and the judges were two completely different matters.

Edward's dance was magnificent just like it had been upstairs. I didn't know the song. It was slow and had a Spanish guitar in it, classy with a Mexican flare. It was great but I thought it would have been better with a partner. I was willing to volunteer.

He met my gaze as he danced and I held it as he finished his dance. Nigel asked if he was feeling better and then the judges dismissed Edward. He calmly walked off stage and sat back down next to me.

"That was great Edward."

He smiled. "I'm glad you liked it."

"I like all of your dancing."

He smirked. "You like what you see."

I flushed and bit my lip. Maybe Emmett was starting to rub off on me but I heard a double meaning in his words. He grinned at me and I decided to play along.

"For the most part. I know one way it could have been better."

His smirk fell and he seemed confused. Ha! I win. He opened his mouth to ask but I cut him off and pointed to the stage.

"Shh, Nigel is going to talk."

Nigel congratulated everyone on a job well done and dismissed us to dinner. I stood up before Edward could restart our conversation and grabbed Alice's arm as we headed out of the auditorium. Alice glanced up at me and smiled.

"You really shouldn't tease the poor boy, Bella."

I huffed at her. "I wasn't teasing him." Liar! Yes, I was teasing him. I was so cruel. Well, he deserved a little taste of his own medicine. I could hardly think straight around him, so it was my turn to leave him confused.

"You've got it bad, Bella." Alice said as we walked into the hotel.

I was done fighting it. I had a crush on Edward Cullen and it was clear Alice already knew about it. "I know."

"So why don't you go walk with him and flirt a little."

"I'm no good at flirting Alice. I'll make a fool out of myself more than I already have."

"Edward doesn't seem to think you're a fool Bella. Trust me on this the boy's got it bad for you."

"Why would he like me, Alice?"

"Why wouldn't he? You need some confidence Bella."

We entered the buffet and I lost Alice in the line for food. We all gathered together again at the table and Alice shoved me into the seat next to Edward. Talk was awkward at dinner. Everyone's thoughts were centered on who would make the top twenty but no one wanted to bring it up. It was very likely that we would not all be sitting here tomorrow morning.

Edward didn't ask about my comment on his solo but I could tell it was driving him crazy. He shot me confused looks all throughout dinner and picked at his food. Conversation was at an all time low for the entire room when Alice scooted her chair back and jumped to her feet.

"I can't take it anymore. I'm going back early."

There were mumbled agreements and we cleared our dishes. Over the next hour everyone trickled back into the auditorium to hear the judge's final verdict. Another familiar face was on stage with our judges and I recognized the host of the show, Cat Deeley.

The lights dimmed and the cameras started rolling. Cat had a mic wired up the side of her dress so she could stand in front of everyone and not have to hold a microphone.

"Welcome contestants. How is everyone feeling after your five rounds of dancing hell?"

People shouted and clapped and called out comments that would make it sound as if we hadn't loved getting our butts kicked everyday for the last week. We were sore and tired, but over all I hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

"My name is Cat Deeley and I am returning again this year to host another season of "So You Think You Can Dance."

More cheers broke out and some of the boys behind us wolf whistled.

She laughed and waved off their praise before returning her attention to the camera.

"In just a few short minutes our judges will call you up in small groups and by the time the slaughter is over only the best twenty will be left standing. Are you all ready for this?!?"

We cheered again and Cat took a seat next to the other judges. One of the Camera men closed in on their faces and Nigel started talking into the camera. He introduced the other judges again and talked about how hard everyone had worked this week.

"The first dancers we would like to see are: Alice Brandon, Alec Dowling, Ben Cheney, Jessica Stanly, and Andrew Plat."

Alice seemed to freeze in her chair for a split second before she rocketed on stage. Angela squeezed Ben's hand and we wished them both luck.

Mary talked about all five solos and brought up things about all five dancers she loved, along with a few things she didn't.

"Alice. You, little chicky-poo are quickly becoming one of my favorites this season. I love the energy you bring to everything you do and I am very pleased to say that you are the first of this years top twenty."

Alice jumped up and down and had a mini spazz attack on stage. Alice seemed to remember she was still on camera and she returned to her place in line still bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Nigel asked Alec and Andrew to step forward and thanked them both for their time but unfortunately neither of them would be moving forward in the competition. I held Angela's hand as Ben and Jessica were both asked to step forward.

"Ben, every season we have a Broadway dancer in the top twenty. The judges love them and they have all been great dancers. Never before has a dancer who specializes in Broadway won this show. I have a feeling you might break that streak. Welcome to the finals!"

Jessica also made it to the top twenty and after only five dancers we already knew who three of the top dancers would be. In set groups of five the judges continued to call dancers up on stage. One by one the top-twenty was revealed.

"Erik Yorkie"

"Leah Clearwater"

"Mike Newton"

"Victoria Reed"

Those who made it to the top were gathered in a separate group of seats. Those who were asked to leave returned to their seats with the rest of us to wait out the rest of the ceremony. Nigel glanced down at his chart after dismissing a few more dancers and called the next string of names.

"Now we would like to see: Mandee, Rosalie, Erika, Jasper, and Taylor."

Jasper and Rosalie left with the others and took their place on stage. Tyce Diorio took the mic and called Mandee, Erika and Taylor forward. I recognized all of them from previous dances but I hadn't gotten the chance to speak to any of them directly. Tyce gave praise for their skill and wished them all luck in the future but they would not be continuing in this competition.

After the three of them had walked off stage Rosalie and Jasper were left alone onstage. Tyce turned his attention to Mary who was all smiles again.

"We have had a few pairs of relatives on this show before. Never anyone as closely related as the two of you. You may face challenges the others do not, especially, if you end up getting paired together. I am confident that you will both be fine and it is my pleasure to welcome both of the Hale twins to the top twenty."

Neither Jasper nor Rosalie freaked out like the others had after hearing that they would be moving on. Jasper simple pulled his sister into a hug and they thanked the judges before joining the other finalists.

More dancers I didn't know were called on stage and slowly the number of spots open in the finals were filling up.

"Heidi Blake"

"Laurent Gathegi"

"Demetri Anderson"

"Emmett Cullen"

I cheered with Edward as Emmett threw his fist in the air and leapt off the stage. Rosalie threw her arms around his neck and I wasn't the only one surprised when she kissed him. Emmett wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down to sit next to him.

Edward chuckled at my side and I raised an eyebrow at him. He glanced down at me and lowered his lips to my ear so no one else would hear him.

"I just won fifty dollars."

"How?"

"Emmett has had many a girlfriend in his life. Every girl has been different, red heads, short girls, biker girls, bimbos, smart girls. Every one of them walked into his life looking like a dream and he ended up dropping each one for different reasons. The only thing they all had in common was their names. They were all named after flowers. Every single one of them."

Nigel called five more dancers on stage and I moved closer to Edward so we could keep talking without the crew men telling us to be quiet.

"How does that get you fifty dollars?"

He pointed up to Emmett and Rosalie who had gone back to making out.

"I bet Emmett that he wouldn't be able to resist making a move on Rosalie and I was right. He's dated a Lily, a Petunia, and a Daisy. He even once dated a girl named Marigold. My personal favorite was Magnolia. He dumped her after she went off on Tanya for hanging around with Emmett too much. She was crazy. Now he's dating a Rose, and we will get to watch as yet another pretty flower shows her thorns and breaks his heart."

I glanced up at where Emmett and Rosalie were sitting. They weren't making out anymore, but it was clear they were lost in each other. He had her hand wrapped in his and she was leaning against his side. They looked happy but I really wasn't the best at judging relationships.

"You don't know that she'll hurt him. Maybe Emmett's finally found the right flower."

Edward shook his head doubtfully. "I'm pretty sure Emmett's allergic to flowers. He thought each one of those girls was wonderful before they cheated on him. I hope you're right but I have no reason to trust that this will end any differently than the others."

We turned our attention back to the stage. Three dancers I didn't know were walking off and I felt bad for not paying attention. The two girls left on stage were Tanya and Angela. I hadn't even heard Nigel called their names.

They both made it to the top and it was announced that there were only five seats left in the finals. Mary took the name list and called the next five dancers on stage. Among them she called Edward and Jane up onstage.

I wished him luck and watched as he joined the others. I held my breath as Mary worked her way down the row, dismissing the first two dancers in his group. I cheered as Jane made it to the finals but my attention was locked on Edward as Nigel started talking to him.

Nigel commented on his Disco routine and admitted that it hadn't been the best. He complimented Edward on his Tango dance and had asked Edward if he was comfortable dancing with people other than Tanya.

Edward's eyes fell to where I was sitting as he nodded. "Yes, I am capable and willing to dance with other dancers."

Nigel nodded. "Good, because I want you in the finals and the chances are very good that you won't be partnered with your friend. It seems that the Hale twins will not be the only pair of relatives in this year's season."

Edward's lips turned up on the sides and I could see the pride flowing from him as he joined Emmett and the others in the chairs behind the judges. I counted the heads around him and felt my stomach drop. There were already nine girls sitting with Edward and the others were boys. My chances were looking slimmer and slimmer.

There were only five of us left so it didn't surprise me when Nigel called my name along with Jake's and three other people I didn't recognize. We joined one other boy and two girls on stage, a one in three chance at getting my dream. I was not pleased with those odds.

The boy on my left was almost as tall as Jake. He had long sandy colored hair pulled behind his head in a ponytail. Nigel called his name and James stepped forward to face the judges. I couldn't remember having seen him before but he must have been good because the judges asked him to join the other winners.

Jake was next and he filled the last open seat for a boy in the finals. I pulled him into a hug and congratulated him before he and James walked to the side of the stage. Mary asked the rest of us to step forward and I joined my competition center stage.

Mary was the first to talk and she praised the girl on my left who's name was Amy. Nigel was next and he talked about Monika who was standing to my right. Tyce interrupted them and pointed out a few mishaps that Amy had suffered throughout the week.

Mary agreed and although she loved Amy, it was time for her to go. Tears fell down her face and she ran off the stage.

"Bella." I turned back to face Mary. "I was very impressed with your solo today. You had a few small mishaps. Mostly, I think those were related to your accident. You've proven yourself to be a very tough competitor and I feel for anyone who stands in your way."

She turned back to Monika. "Monika, you as well have impressed the judges throughout the callbacks. Your random CD routine was one of the strongest, although we felt that all the members of your group were not effectively showcased. You're both great dancers and I have a feeling you will both go far with your dancing but, one of you has shown the potential to be a star. America is looking for someone who is not only a good dancer but a great performer, someone who's not afraid of the camera and who dances with passion."

Her eyes fell on Monika and I could feel tears prick at the corner of my eyes. I wouldn't cry in front of the camera but I would as soon as I was backstage.

"Monika, I'm sorry but we're going to ask you to leave."

What?

Nigel nodded his agreement and spoke into his mic. "Monika, you are indeed a talented dancer. No one will ever doubt that, but you lack a level of emotion that we look for in all of our finalists." His gaze fell on me and Monika took a step away from me.

"Bella, you have shown not only great skill in your area of dance but an ability to adapt. It is clear to us that you dance from the heart." He motioned to the other judges. "You belong here. We would love it if you joined the top twenty."

I was speechless. I had told myself I wouldn't cry on TV but I was helpless to stop the tears that fell down my face. I did it. I was going to the finals. I nodded my head and thanked them for the chance. Mary waved her hand off and spoke into her mic.

"Don't thank us dear. You made it to the top yourself."

Monika huffed and pushed past me as she stormed off stage. The judges asked if all of the top twenty dancers would come back on stage. Jake was still standing by the stairs and he was the first to reach me. I jumped into his arms and locked mine around his neck. Planting a kiss on his check.

"Congratulations, Bells."

"You too Jake, Billy's gonna flip when he finds out."

He flashed me his signature smile, one that would put the sun to shame on the brightest of days and nodded. "Yeah, dad will probably fall right out of his wheelchair."

"Let's hope Charlie will be there to pick him back up."

He laughed and set me back on my feet as the others raced on stage and gathered around us. Alice launched herself at me and we both would have fallen to the ground if Emmett hadn't wrapped his arms around us both and pulled us into a group hug.

I got a chance to congratulate Jasper and Angela and I gave Leah a hug. Mary and the other judges joined us center stage and Cat Deeley was talking to the camera. Everyone crowded around her and smiled at the camera as she spoke.

"...and there you have it America, your top twenty. It's been a grueling round of callbacks filled with tears, laughs, joys and one car accident."

Emmett leaned forward and I blushed as he pointed out the car accident. "Gee, I wonder who that was."

I elbowed him in the side to shut him up. Edward wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me away from his brother before I could say something smart. We looked back at the camera as Cat finished talking.

"Look for us next Wednesday at 8/7 central right here on Fox to see your top twenty perform their first group number. Who will get partnered with who? Will sibling rivalries mess with any of the dancers heads now that we have two pairs of siblings? Who will win the prize money and the car? Who will become America's favorite dancer? Only time, our judges, and your votes will tell America. I'm Cat Deeley and this is "So You Think You Can Dance."

We cheered as the camera moved around the group and people broke into dance, grabbing each other to try and show off. A crew man called 'cut' and it was time to celebrate. People were hugging and cheering and a few of the dancers were crying, myself included. I wrapped my arms around Edward.

"Congratulations."

"You too." He wrapped his arms around my waist and spun us in a circle. The judge were talking and mingling with the dancers. Edward set me back on my feet and locked his eyes with mine. He wiped the tears off my checks.

"There's just one thing I can't figure out."

I grinned up at him knowing what he was going to ask. I knew he hadn't forgotten our previous conversation. I was just hoping he wouldn't bring it up again. A part of me really wanted to know where Edward and I stood. Another side wanted to remain in denial so we could stay friends.

He continued when I didn't ask. "What about my solo could have made it better?"

I hesitated for a second and bit my lip, now or never I guess right? Bite the bullet Bella. "You could have danced with me."

His eyes danced and his hands tightened around my waist. "I loved dancing with you Bella. I look forward to getting to do it again."

"I still owe you a Samba."

He nodded. "Yes you do, don't think I'll ever forget that."

"I won't forget. You'll just have to wait to collect."

"I don't think I'm that patient."

Nigel called for everyone to pay attention and I unwillingly turned away from Edward to listen. "Tonight will be the last night you spend at your hotel. Tomorrow morning you will move into the studio apartments found on the fifth and sixth floor of this building. Tomorrow, we will tape you picking your partners but you will have the rest of the day off. The call backs will air tomorrow night. You all have TV's in your rooms and you can watch it if you wish. Congratulations top twenty and I wish you all pleasant dreams."

Nigel, Mary and Tyce left with Cat and we all wandered back over to the apartment. Those who hadn't made it to the top were packing their bags and I caught eyes with Jane as she wished one of the dancer's goodbye. I recognized the short boy she was with but I couldn't remember his name.

Our group decided to reject the elevator and we climbed the stairs to our respected floors. Edward kissed the back of my hand as Angela and I reached the third floor. I had the strange urge to lock my arms around his neck and kiss him senseless but Angela took my hand and the moment was gone.

We locked ourselves in our Hotel room and spent time gathering all of our things together so we would be ready to move the next morning. I had thought the excitement of the day would keep me awake but I found myself dozing off before I had even changed into my pajamas.

I told Angela to take a shower. I would take one in the morning. She vanished into the bathroom and I stripped out of my day clothes. I pulled on my tank-top and a pair of shorts to sleep in, it was too hot to wear my sweats. I was just pulling the blankets on my bed back when there was a knock at the door.

I didn't look through the peep hole and was pleasantly surprised when I found Edward standing in the hall.

"Edward, what are you doing here?"

He hesitated and his eyes took in my short-short pajama shorts. My cheeks flushed and I suddenly felt very self conscious.

"I came to say good night."

He seemed very nervous and his hair looked like he had been pulling at it again.

"That's very sweet Edward. Goodnight."

He took a step forward and cupped my cheek in his hand. I hardly had time to take a breath before his lips were on mine. Kissing Edward was like nothing I had ever experienced. My body hesitated for a second before I responded to his kiss.

My arms locked around his neck and my fingers found their way into his hair. Our lips battled for what felt like hours. It was hot, sweet and almost desperate. I loved it. All too soon, he pulled away and we were both left gasping for air.

"Goodnight, Bella."

He kissed me once again, shorter and softer but just as wonderful. He pulled back and walked away disappearing up the stairs. I leaned against the door and waited until my heart slowed back down before closing the door.

I laid down in my bed, my lips still tingling from our kiss. I licked my bottom lip and could still taste him there. I smiled to myself and turned off the light. Today had been a very good day if I did say so myself. I welcomed the sleep that took me, looking forward to another dream about dark green eyes.

* * *

~Darkrose

There we have it the top twenty. I must say I made it kind of obvious who would make it but I don't really care. Here's a full list of the top twenty just so you can see all the names together.

1. Edward Cullen, 2. Emmett Cullen, 3. Rosalie Hale, 4. Jasper Hale, 5. Alice Brandon, 6. Jessica Stanley, 7. Mike Newton, 8. Jacob Black, 9. Angela Webber, 10. Heidi Blake, 11. Jane Ross, 12. Leah Clearwater, 13. Laurent Gathegi, 14. Demetre Anderson, 15. Erik Yorkie, 16. Victoria Reed, 17. Tayna Brown, 18. James Gigandet, 19. Ben Cheney, and number 20. Isabella Swan (Bella)

I know some of the last names are kind of lame but, roll with it please. Their last names aren't really that important. I was going to save the first kiss for the next chapter on their day off, but I thought this was kind of cute. I know I wouldn't mind a hot guy showing up at my door for a short make out session. Wow, that makes me sound like a slut.......but still. Who would really pass that up? No one I know.


	12. Couples Time

This chapter wasn't written to anything specific so listen to anything you want while you read.

Tonight is another round of elimination from the real season of "So You think You Can Dance" and we're going to find out who is in the top twenty for this story. (Keep your fingers crossed for Evan) now that Jeanette is gone I want him to win.

Chapter 12- Couples

* * *

POV-Bella  
The hotel was radiating excitement the next morning as the dancers woke up and hauled their luggage down to the Great Hall. The tables had been cleared away and one massive table capable of holding all of us was left in the middle of the room.

Conversation was high and moods were higher as everyone filled their plates and sat around the massive table. By the time he and Emmett joined the rest of us I already had someone sitting on both of my sides.

Edward caught me watching him as he and Emmett walked to the buffet and he mouthed "Good morning" to me. I returned the welcome and rejoined my conversation with Alice. Jane was sitting on her other side and she had been telling Alice and I about her cousin.

"He left just yesterday. His name is Alec. I'm bummed he didn't make it to the end but I'm even more surprised he made it this far. Personally, I don't think the boy can dance to save his life but the judges seemed to like him well enough."

"Was he the boy you waved off on the bus?" Alice asked and I remembered the short boy I had seen Jane with the night before.

"Yep, that was him. I made him promise not to tell our family that I made it until they got to watch the taping tonight."

Now it was my turn to ask a question. "Won't they know you made it when you don't get off the plane with him?"

She shook her head, her short brown hair swinging around her face.

"Nope, we actually don't live with our family. We got an apartment in New York a few years ago when we moved here. The rest of our family is still living over in Italy."

"That explains your accent." Alice said as if a light had just been turned on.

"Accent?" Jane asked.

I nodded along as Alice explained. I had picked up on Jane's accent before but I hadn't thought much about it. If her family was originally from Italy though, that would explain it.

"You have an accent and I couldn't figure out what it was."

She nodded and returned to her food. Alice turned to face me and caught me trying to read Edwards lips as he mouthed something to me from across the table. He and Emmett had taken seats next to Tanya and Jessica at the other end.

"He asked if you were all packed," Alice said as she stuck her fork in her mouth. A light went on above my head and I nodded my answer back at Edward. Edward rolled his eyes and mouthed "Thank you Alice."

Alice mouthed something back which I missed and Edward laughed before saying something in response. I felt lost. Alice nodded her head and chuckled at me.

"What did you say to him?"

"That you can't read lips very well."

"And what did he say?"

"He noticed."

I huffed and blew my bangs out of my face. Edward chuckled from his end of the table and I wondered what my chances would be of hitting him if I tossed my bacon at him. I decided against it fearing for the girl on his left and stuck the bacon in my mouth instead.

"You want me to hit him?" Alice offered holding up her own bacon strip. She held it up in front of her and took aim at Edward.

I tried to stop her but it was too late. The bacon missile flew out of Alice's hand and sailed across the table. I covered my eyes, only opening them when I heard Emmett bust into laughter. I peeked though my fingers and found Edward pulling a strip of bacon off his shoulder. He shot a questioning glance at me and I pointed my finger at Alice as she pointed at me.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled at us. Tanya rolled her eyes as well, not looking nearly as amused by our antics. Emmett shot us both big smiles and said something along the lines of wishing he could throw food at his brother and Edward reminded him of a time when they were kids and Emmett had apparently dumped a box of cereal on him followed by a glass of milk.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. That was the day you broke my batman action figure."

"I was six." Edward defended himself.

"And you shouldn't have been in my room."

"At least I never played with dolls."

Emmett puffed out his chest and scowled at his little brother. "It was an action figure not a doll."

"Just keep telling yourself that Emmett."

People around the table chuckled and Emmett made a grab for Edward. Edward ducked out of his brother's grasp and cleared his plate. I quickly finished my food and joined him.

"Did he really dump a box of cereal on you?"

"Yep. The whole thing. Esme was furious about the milk. It ruined her carpet."

"I bet it gave her a chance to redecorate."

He nodded. "She would never admit this to Emmett, but she secretly loved it when he broke something around the house. It's a good thing Carlisle has a knack for handling stocks. With Emmett's love of videogames, Esme rebuilding every other year and the upkeep of my piano we must have cost him an arm and a leg."

We left our dishes in a bin for the waiter and grabbed our bags. The others were clearing up as well and we took turns racing across the street with our bags. A canary yellow Porsche missed hitting Alice buy inches and she turned her finger on the driver.

"Hey! I'm walking here asshole!"

Jasper grabbed her arm and pulled her out of traffic as another car came rolling down the road.

"Technically, you were in his way."

Alice shifted her bag farther up her shoulder and gave the Porsche a distasteful look. "Clearly, you've never been to New York. I've kicked cars flashier than that for almost running me over."

When we finally got to the studio crew men were waiting to assign us to our new rooms and show us around. The studio we had been working in was far larger than I had realized. The ground floor was the only one I had really seen and it held the massive auditorium. It also held studios one and two which were the largest, several store rooms for the cameras and the medic's room. I was already well acquainted with the medic's room.

The second floor held: Tony's prop shop, three smaller studios which would be open for us to use whenever we needed them: and a large lounge room which would be where we would gather for meals and be hanging out between workouts.

The third and fourth floors held the choreographers studios which we would be getting acquainted with very well over the next few weeks and a massive Costume room. Stepping into the costume room was like walking onto the stage of Phantom of the Opera. The walls were decorated with masks and bright paintings. The floor was a rich dark wood and the chairs and mirrors that surrounded the room were decorated with gold accents.

The costume room was run by a woman named Max. Her real name was Maxine, but she had promptly told us upon being introduced to her, that the last person who had dared to call her Maxine woke up with a shaved head the next day. I would** not** be calling her Maxine.

The fifth floor held ten apartments where the girls would be sleeping and the last floor, number six, would house the boys. The whole building was built like some kind of twisted funhouse with stairs leading everywhere and all of the rooms seemed to have more than one door. If we were taking a poll I would put twenty dollars on me being the first to get lost.

I was staying in room number two. Alice had the room next door and Jane was staying across the hall. I was disappointed to learn that Angela would be staying in room nine at the other end of the hall but glad to find that I would no longer have to share a bathroom.

I used my key to open the door and dumped my suitcase on the floor at the foot of my bed along with my other bags. I was just trying to talk myself into unpacking when someone knocked on the door and it swung open.

Alice was standing in the doorway looking as hip as ever and she chuckled when she saw the disgruntled look I was throwing my bags. "You can unpack later Bella, come with me."

I followed her into the hall and she pointed down to the end.

"Go get Angela."

I knocked on Angela's door and she smiled up at me.

"Did you miss me Bella?"

I nodded. "Of course I did, but that's not why I'm here. Alice wants to talk to us. Come on."

Alice was knocking on door number five and a few moments later Rosalie opened the door. Alice slipped around Rosalie and sat on her bed. Rose shot me and Angela a confused look but we just shrugged our shoulders and followed her in.

"What is this all about Alice?" Rosalie asked as she cleared off the rest of her bed so Angela and I could sit down.

"We're going to a club tonight and I wanted to make sure you all had appropriate outfits."

"A club?" Angela asked.

Alice nodded. "Yep and the boys are coming too. I've already told Jasper to make sure they're ready. It's just around the corner and I promise it's going to be lots of fun."

"And when did you decide we were going to a club?" I asked Alice, leaning against the wall. I hadn't brought any clubbing clothes.

"I looked this place up before I got here. It's supposed to be really hot. Like a mix of Mexican restaurant and New York club. I promise you're going to love it."

Rosalie dug around in one of her bags and pulled out a chunk of shiny black fabric. I think was supposed to be a dress. She smiled up at Alice.

"I'm in."

"Good." Alice clapped her hands. "What about you two?"

I shook my head and Angela paled at my side.

"I didn't bring any club like clothes Alice."

Angela nodded along with me. "Honestly, I don't club."

I wasn't surprised by that. I hadn't spent a ton of my life in clubs, but thanks to Summer I had seen my fair share. Angela didn't seem the clubbing type. Then again, I had been looking for a way to find Angela's inner Vixen. A club might be just the place to help her with her confidence problems. Alice met my eye and it was like she could read my mind.

"I'll go talk to Max. I bet she'll help us. Either way, we're going after dinner. That way the filming is over and no one will notice we're missing."

Alice disappeared out the door and the rest of us sat in awkward silence. I glanced at Angela and then up at Rosalie.

"I'm going to go unpack. I'm sure Alice will track me down when she gets back."

Rosalie nodded and Angela followed me out. I was halfway through unpacking when Alice returned. She tossed a small bag at me.

"You will wear this to the club. I really like that Max girl. She has excellent taste in clothes but as soon as we have more time we're going shopping. I already gave Angela her outfit. Its beautiful. Poor Ben's not going to know what hit him."

I peeked in the bag and saw black jeans and green silk. I zipped the bag shut as quickly as I could and gave Alice a doubtful look.

"Why are we doing this?"

She smiled. "Because it will be fun and we all desperately need a little fun after those call backs. We're going to go out, maybe get a drink and unwind."

She paused for a second and then a sheepish grin spread across her face and her nose wrinkled. "And I really want an excuse to dance with Jasper again."

I could see her logic there. If we went to a club I could probably get Edward to dance with me. I did want to dance with Edward again. I glanced at the bag and then smiled up at Alice.

"Are you even old enough to drink?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I'm nineteen just like you but, that hasn't stopped me in the past."

I rolled my eyes and tried not to be a hypocrite. I was not an avid drinker but Renee had let me try a few of her drinks over the years.

"I'm in but we should invite the others too. Who did you have Jasper talk to upstairs?"

"He was going to talk to Emmett, Edward, Ben and Jake."

I nodded. "Would you mind if I asked a couple of the other girls to join us. We could make it a party."

She nodded, "I knew there was a reason I liked you Bella. Go ahead and invite whoever you want but, I get to do your hair and makeup."

I shivered and Alice pouted at me. "Please."

"I can do my own hair and makeup."

She went from begging to defensive in the blink of an eye and put her hands on her hips.

"You're going to have people all over you doing your hair and make up for the show. You're very pretty Bella, but with my help you will glow and I'm not taking no for an answer so you have no choice. I'll see you in Rosalie's room after dinner. Come dressed."

She spun on her toes and disappeared out the door. I stared after her dumbfounded and then scowled at the empty space.

"Ok then, I'm glad we came to an agreement. I'll see you after dinner Alice. I would love it if you did my hair Alice, thank you." I grumbeled to myself.

I swung the door shut with a snap. Great, now I was talking to myself. This show was going to drive me crazy before it was over I just knew it. I glanced at the bag again and pulled the zipper back. It could have been worse, I guess.

There was a knock on the door. I shot it a distasteful look and figured Alice was coming back to tell me more about tonight.

"I'm busy Alice, go away."

"No Alice out here Bella, it's me."

I shot off the bed and stubbed my toe on my bag. I fumbled with the door and practically tore it off its hinges. He was standing in the hall looking like a lost model. He held up two cups of what could only be coffee and I waved him in.

"I take it Alice told you about the club," He said as he sat at one of the bar stools in my room.

"She didn't really tell me that much about it. Just that we're going, I have no choice, and I have to wear that." I pointed an accusing finger at the bag of club clothes and snagged one of the cups of coffee from him. I needed cafine right now and I wasn't going to be picky about it.

He unzipped the bag and grinned up at me. "I look forward to seeing you in that."

I rolled my eyes and took the bag from him, banishing it to the back my closet until after dinner. "Did Jasper tell you anything more about this club we're going to?"

He nodded and sipped from his drink. "It's called Danza de la noche, which translates to "Dance of the Night" if I'm not mistaken."

"Sounds like fun."

He nodded. "Emmett and Jake think so. Ben looked kind of freaked, I don't think he clubs too much."

"Nether does Angela. This will be her first time."

"Alice has ordered us to pick you up at the front door at six. If we're late, she promised to remove our favorite organs for us."

I grimaced and he chuckled. "That reminds me I need to talk to Leah and Jane about tonight."

He stood up and walked with me to the door. "Then I'll see you down at lunch."

"Save me a seat."

He disappeared again and I crossed the hall so I could knock on Jane's door. I stood in the hall and sipped my coffee while I waited. A few moments later Jane opened the door and grinned up at me.

"To what do I owe the pleasure Bella?"

"Alice is dragging a few of us to a club she found tonight after dinner. You want in?"

Jane nodded. "Sure I'm in for a little clubbing. Time to find out if Vegas has any cute boys in it."

"We're going to meet in Rosalie's room after dinner so we can do our hair and make up."

"Which room is she in?"

"Five."

Jane nodded. "I've got just the thing. I'll see you at lunch."

I moved down the hall and stopped at door number seven. I knocked and Leah opened the door.

"What's up Bella?"

"Alice found a club down the road. A few of us are going after dinner to unwind. You want to come?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sounds like fun."

"We're meeting in room five after dinner to get ready if you want to join us."

"Kay"

I spent the rest of the morning unpacking my things and moving into my new room. If everything went according to plan I would be living here for the next few months. I pulled my shoes on and brushed out my hair again before heading downstairs for lunch.

I took two wrong turns and ran into one dead end before I finally found the lounge. There was a table piled high with food and several of the other dancers were there getting food and eating at various tables. I grabbed a plate and picked a sandwich from the table.

"Bella, over here."

Alice, Edward, and Tanya had claimed a table by the window. Edward patted the seat next to him and I slid in with them. Alice slid me a sheet of paper. It was a day schedule for our filming. After lunch we were supposed to report to the costume shop for hair and make up, then we would be heading over to see the show stage at the CBS studios and film the partner assignments. There would also be a photo shoot after the filming.

"We're going to see the stage."

Alice nodded and bounced up and down in her seat. "And the judges are going to give us our first partners." She swiveled in her seat and waved over towards the door where Jasper and Rosalie were walking in.

"You're not going to get him Alice," I said honestly, already knowing where her thoughts were headed. This must be how it felt to be Alice. She always seemed to know what I was thinking or when something good was going to happen. She turned to face me, her light blue eyes narrowing into slits.

"And why won't I get him?"

"Alice, the judges pick partners based on style and height and ability. You and Jasper have over a foot in height difference. There's no way."

She scowled at her sandwich. "So?"

I chuckled and Alice pouted at me. She knew I was right and I almost felt bad about bursting her bubble. Jasper joined us and Rosalie sat at another table with Emmett and Erik.

"Who do you think you'll get paired with Bella?"

Tanya's question caught me off guard. She smiled at me but I detected some malice in her voice as she turned her gaze on Edward.

"Personally, I hope we get paired Eddie. That would make this competition so much easier. Seeing as how much practice we've already had working together."

A spike of jealousy ran through me as she grabbed his hand. Edward shook his head and squeezed her fingers before letting go of her hand.

"Don't call me Eddie, and I think the chances of us getting paired are about as high as Jasper getting matched with Rosalie."

She scooted closer to him and stared up at him through her heavily mascaraed eye lashes. I had an urge to pull him away from her and kiss him right here on the table so she would get the hint and back off. I shook off the feeling and noticed that as much as I hated how close they were sitting Edward hadn't scooted away from her. Maybe my possessive feelings weren't returned.

"And why is that Edward? We're almost the same height. We both have a background in Latin/Ballroom. Clearly we would be perfect partners."

He nodded. "And we've already worked together, that's my point. The judges allready snapped at us for dancing together once in the callbacks. They want to see how we dance with other people."

He glanced over at me and my cheeks flushed with heat. He looked back at Tanya and skillfully scooted away from her at the same time. "I'm looking forward to getting to dance with new people on this show."

Tanya scowled at him and shot me a disgruntled look before getting up to clear her plate. Edward scooted over again until he was right against my side and I felt a little smug.

"I'm hoping to get paired with this one girl I saw dance during callbacks. She was great."

What? I thought he wanted to get paired with me? I certainly wanted to be his partner. He nodded, continuing once it was clear I was not going to ask who she was. I hadn't realized I had competition for his attention. After that kiss yesterday I had thought my feelings for him were returned. Maybe I was wrong.

"She's got brown hair, a few shades lighter than her eyes. She's a samba dancer."

He leaned closer to my side and whispered the end of his thought into my ear.

"And she's a great kisser."

Oh…He was talking about me. My cheeks flushed and I felt very smug indeed. He wanted to be my partner. He had thought I was a good kisser. Cue inner happy dance.

I nodded and decided to play along with his joke. "I'm hoping to get partnered with this guy from Washington. He's got bright green eyes and his hair is this funny bronzy, red color. I can't figure out what to call it."

Alice giggled and Jasper smirked at us.

I glanced over at Edward who was watching me through his lashes. He ran a hand through his hair.

"You don't know what color my hair is?"

I shook my head. "I can't decide what to call it."

He looked up as if he would be able to see his own hair and shrugged. "I never really thought about it before."

"I was actually going to ask you about that Edward. Is that your natural color?" Alice asked.

Edward nodded. "Yeah, it's the same color my father had."

Topic of conversation moved from hair color to favorite colors and back to who we would want as possible partners and who we would definitely not want. Alice admitted that she did not want to dance with Erik again and I admitted that I wouldn't want to get paired with Ben. Broadway was something I had never tried before and people who danced it didn't generally get that far in the show.

At one, we walked upstairs with some of the other dancers and found Max waiting for us with a team all dressed in purple and red uniforms. I hadn't noticed before but Max's hair was streaked with red just like Tony's had been with purple.

Max pointed at me, snapped her fingers and a man with frosted black hair took my hand and led me away.

"This way miss."

He sat me down in his station and started to run his hands through my hair.

"How would you like your hair?"

I didn't know what to do with my hair. The most I ever did with my hair was run a straightener through it. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Just something simple."

He nodded. "You don't spend a lot of time in hair salons do you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

He chuckled. "Quite. Don't worry. I will make you look fantastic without going overboard."

"What's your name?"

"Jason, miss..."

"It's Bella."

He nodded and started running a brush through my hair.

"Well, miss Bella you are in very capable hands."

Ten minutes later my hair hung in soft curls and there was a light touch of makeup around my eyes. Jason took my hand and led me over to Max for inspection. She loved it. Said it was simple elegance and ordered me off to wardrobe.

Jason passed me off to another woman in Max's uniform who led me to a room full of mirrors and racks of costumes. She stood me up on one of many small circle platforms and pulled out a bright yellow measuring strip. Angela was on the platform next to me looking very uncomfortable as the assistant took her measurements.

Alice was led into the room and she started rolling off all of her measurements from memory. The woman working with her insisted on taking the measurements herself and Alice very smugly said I told you so as each one turned out to be exactly as she had said it was.

"Arm's out."

I held out my arms as she measured the length of my arms and down my sides.

"Stand straight please."

She measured my waist, the length of my legs and my bust size.

"What size shoes do you wear?"

"Seven."

She handed me several dance shoes and had me try on all of the different types. I was a different size for each type of shoe. Jazz shoes, ballet flats, Tap shoes, seven different types of heels and a few more I wasn't sure I wanted to know what they were for.

It was a whirl of colors and fabrics and getting poked with measuring devices. After what felt like a lifetime, I was spun out into the hallway with the other finished dancers. I glanced at myself in one of the mirrors randomly placed on the walls and inspected their work for myself.

My hair still looked perfect just as Jason had said it would be. The clothes I had been wearing were in my arms and I was now dressed in a pair of black dance pants and a simple white tank-top. I had been outfitted with a new pair of dance shoes and grumbled to myself as I realized this was only the first of many times I would have to get my hair and wardrobe done for me.

I dumped my things on my bed and crew members gathered all of us in the lobby down on the first floor.

"Bella."

I spun around and found Edward standing behind me. I hadn't seen him during the fitting. Boys and girls were kept separate so there was no need for private changing rooms. I bit my lip as I took in his simple new outfit. He looked almost edible.

He had been dressed in a pair of black dance pants like me but on top he was wearing a black button up with nothing underneath. Someone had tried to tame his hair and it was slowly moving back to its disorderly fashion and I wanted to run my fingers through it and help it along.

"You look great."

He nodded and brushed one of my new curls out of my face. "You too."

"Edward, you look absolutely fabulous as always."

Tanya jumped to our side and wrapped an arm around Edward's waist. Her strawberry curls had been sharpened and pinned around her face. She was wearing a simple red dress and she looked great. A warm arm was thrown across my shoulders and Jake pulled me to him.

"Wow, look at you Bells. I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair done."

Jake looked like a million bucks as well. Everyone did. Everyone was dressed in nice dancing clothes--things that we might wear to a real practice. Hair was curled and pinned and everyone had makeup around their eyes.

Now that we were in the top twenty, cameras would be doing a lot more personal shooting. We would do mini interviews for clips on the show and cameras would be following us to our rehearsals with the choreographers.

"You look good too Jake."

He smiled. "Thanks, come on let's get on the bus."

He took my hand and led me outside. I glanced back to find Edward. Tanya was clinging to his arm as she led him out behind us to where a large tour bus was waiting to drive us to the studio. The side of the bus said "So You Think You Can Dance" and had pictures of past dancers on it.

"Check out the bus." Jake said pointing at the announcement of this year's season on it. There was a large blank spot in the middle where the words. "Upcoming Top 20" were written.

"I see it."

We all piled onto the bus and found Mary and Nigel waiting for us. For the first time since we got to Las Vegas there were no cameras. Jake took the seat next to me and Tanya pulled Edward down next to her a few rows behind us. Once all of the dancers were on board we took off for the studio.

The ride was about a half hour and along the way Nigel and Mary talked about the photo shoot. Articles about us were going to be released in several different magazines over the next few days along with the announcement of this years top twenty which the world would see tomorrow night when the call backs aired.

We pulled up to the large studio and our bus followed a path around back. Nigel said they had to be careful that no one got pictures of us before our names were released tomorrow tonight. It was kind of an odd feeling.

Just a week ago I had been sitting at home not believing that this was possible. Now I was here, in the top twenty, getting ready for a photo shoot and we had security waiting to meet our bus so paparazzi wouldn't get a picture of us.

We were led inside and followed a long hallway around to the front of the building. It was absolutely huge. We walked through the doors onto the filming stage and my jaw dropped. We were really here. It was the stage I had seen on television.

The judge's box was on a raised platform to our left. Rows and rows of seats lined the front of the auditorium. Cat Deeley was standing on stage and she waved us up to her. I followed Jake and some of the others dancers as we climbed up the front steps.

I stepped on the stage and took a deep breath. I was really here. So many great dancers had been discovered on this very stage, dozens of award winning dances choreographed. This was the stage where Twitch and Katee had done the door routine to "Mercy". The bench dance that won an Emmy was first danced on this stage. Wade Robson had done "Ramalama" on this very stage.

Another hand wrapped around my waist and warm breath washed over my check as Edward whispered in my ear. "Breathe Bella."

I took a deep breath and air raced back into my lungs.

"It's beautiful."

He nodded and glanced around the auditorium. "Yeah it is."

Cat Deeley lined us up in two lines. The boys were lined up on her left and I was lined up with the girls on her right. Crew men in cameras were racing along the floor and Mary and Nigel sat in the judge's box. Tyce was back and he smiled along with the judges as Cat introduced them.

"Ok America, I'm here with your Top twenty and it's time for our judges to pair them up into our first ten couples."

She motioned for the Nigel to talk and he smiled at the camera.

"Thank you Cat. For our first pair we would like James to step forward."

James stepped forward. His dirty blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he was sporting a jacket, something none of the others boys were wearing. James glanced over the line of ladies waiting to learn which one would be his partner. He winked at me and I shivered involuntarily.

"James, we are partnering you with Tanya."

Tanya stepped forward and gave James a hug. He seemed far more excited than she was and I was probably the only one who saw the look she shot Edward. One by one, the judges called a boy forward and paired him with his partner.

"Erik and Jane"

"Ben and Jessica."

"Jacob-"

Jake stepped forward and flashed a hopeful smile over at me. If I couldn't have Edward as my partner I would have chosen Jake. We had been friends for as long as I could remember and I was looking forward to seeing more of his dancing.

"Jake you will be paired with Heidi."

Bummer, Heidi rushed forward and they hugged. He wrapped his arms around her and swung her around in a circle before they joined the other matched pairs off to the side. Nigel returned to calling people forward and pairing them off.

"Laurent you will be paired with Angela."

When Emmett's name was called he bounded forward and cracked his knuckles.

"Bring on the ladies."

Some of the girls chuckled and I rolled my eyes. I knew Emmett had his hopes set on Rosalie and it was clear from the intense look she was giving Nigel that she was daring him to call any name other than hers.

"Emmett, we have matched you up with Leah."

Rosalie scowled and Emmett threw her a sorrowful look as he embraced Leah and they joined the others. Jasper was called next and I could practically hear Alice mentally begging that the judges would over look their height difference.

"Jasper, your partner will be Victoria."

A tall girl with blaze red hair walked forward and gave Jasper a hug. She was only a few inches shorter than he was and she probably could have rivaled Rosalie in confidence. He took her hand and led her over to where the others couples were sitting.

"Mike Newton, you will be paired with Alice."

Mike seemed as worried about the pairing as Alice was disappointed. Mike was the second shortest boy in this season and Nigel said he was looking forward to see them work together to make their heights work. I was looking forward to Alice kicking Mike's butt when he tripped her the first time. I didn't pity her.

Rosalie got paired with Demetri and then there was only one boy left. It took a moment for me to remember that I was the last girl still standing next to Cat. Nigel called Edward forward.

"Edward, I guess it's clear who your partner is. We were very pleased with the work you and Bella did during the callbacks. You complement each other very well. We will be expecting good things from both of you."

I raced forward and locked my arms around his neck. He picked me up and spun us around a few times. He set me down and I resisted doing a happy dance. I was resisting a lot of things while the camera was still on. A part of me wanted to kiss him but a smarter part of me didn't want to be the center of a "showmance". Another side of me wanted to turn around and stick my tongue out at Tanya, but I was not going to sink to that level.

I settled for grinning like an idiot as Cat called the other groups back to her and we all did different poses with our partners as she said good night. My pose with Edward had been similar to our last pose in our dance during callbacks. He had swung me up on his back and I locked my legs around his chest.

Cat called a crew man forward and we were ordered to follow him to costume change. Backstage was as wild as I had feared it would be. Lights along the floor offered just enough light to see by and every available surface was black.

TV's and small speakers were set up so people back stage could see what was going on in front and wires covered everything. They were draped along the floor, scaling the walls through small holes and criss-crossing the ceiling above us like spiderwebs.

A long room in the back was set aside for costume changes. Each week we would be responsible for getting our costumes here. There would be assistants here to help us quick change and get our hair done. Right now we were going to be dressed for the photo shoot.

Max was back with her team of fashion ninjas. It took just over an hour but when they were done with us we all looked like models. That is if models could dance. A room in the back had been set up for the photo shoot and a man with a camera around his neck was calling out orders.

"Dancers, Dancers. This way, that's right. Don't trip over the equipment. It's very expensive. Mary, Nigel over there we will do group shoots with you in a moment. Cat, I want you by camera two. Dancers get with your partner. We will take a few shots of each pair and then move on."

Pair after pair were pulled in front of the camera and told to pose. The lights flashed and I was sure I was going blind.

"You two up front, smile."

Edward took my arm and led me in front of the camera. I was starting to get overwhelmed. It was all so much to look at, so much to think about. Edward put his hands on my arms and forced me to look at him.

"Calm down Bella."

I nodded and took a deep breath.

"Don't think about the camera."

"What am I supposed to think about?"

He smiled and took my hand.

"Dancing."

He spun me around and caught me in a dip. I could do that. I would think about dancing. I closed my eyes for a second then changed my mind and locked them on Edward's. He pulled me in front of him and we posed.

The camera clicked and Edward twisted me into a new stance. It was like a cheesy little dance. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me onto his shoulder by my waist. We hit another pose and I slipped backwards. I grabbed onto Edwards head and we tried not to fall over as we fell to pieces laughing at each other.

"All right, you're done, good work. Next pair."

Edward grabbed onto me and helped me find my feet as we moved over for the next pair to get their picture taken.

"Thank you, Edward."

He nodded and kissed the top of my head.

"You've got to learn to loosen up. This is what you want to do, just have fun with it."

"This is what I want."

A man in black led us over to a larger screen where Mary and Nigel were messing around with the other dancers who were already there. We joined the group and I tried to focus on having fun as the camera snapped.

Everyone got their group shots and a few singles were taken. We were all herded in front of the largest screen yet. Cat joined us and we did a few full group shots with all twenty dancers, the main two judges and our host.

"Ok Everyone. Say Dance."

We all did a funny pose, Alice and I gave Nigel bunny ears, and yelled.

"Dance!"

The camera snapped one last time and it was done.

* * *

~Darkrose

(Jumps in the air and does a happy dance) He did it! He did it! Yippy!!!! Evan's going to the finals!!  
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! TOP FOUR! WooHoo! I can't wait to see the tour they go on.


	13. Let's Dance

This chapter is dedicated to my dorky little sister. She was singing this song when I woke up and BOOM! this chapter was inspired. I can't explain it. I don't pretend to understand how the inspiration God's work but they have been very good to me lately. That's why I've been able to update so quickly.

This chapter was written to "Don't stop the Music" By: Rihanna

Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers. Your encouragement is a big part of my drive for this story. It's nice to know people out there like my work.

Chapter 13-Let's Dance

* * *

POV-Bella

After the mayhem of the photo shoot we were all ushered back onto the bus. Everyone was chatting excitedly and I took a few moments to try and relax. Privet Busses, Photo shoots, a team of people ready to make sure I didn't look stupid on TV. It was a lot to take in.

When we got back to the Hotel dinner was being served and we devoured it like a pack of wild animals. Apparently photo shoots make people hungry. I sat down by Edward and Jasper and we were joined a few moments later by Jane.

"You guys mind if we join you?"

Jane was with a girl I recognized as Heidi. I had seen her a few times before. She had been partnered with Jasper in the contemporary piece during the callbacks and now she was Jakes partner for the show. She had lots of curly hair, she was around 5'10, easily putting my 5'4 to shame and she was all leg.

"Not at all, please join us ladies."

Jasper, ever the gentleman scooted over so we could fit them with us and did formal introductions for the rest of the table.

"Edward, Bella this is Heidi. Heidi this is Bella and Edward."

We shook hands as Jasper pointed everyone out to the others and they sat down with us.

"What did you guys think of the photo shoot?" Heidi asked, there was a touch of Jan's accent in her voice and I wondered if maybe she had moved over from Italy as well.

"It was kind of overwhelming." I admitted.

Heidi nodded. "Yes, that was a particularly long session but, trust me on this one it could have been so much worse. They had a good crew there."

"Do you take photos like that often?" Edward asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I do modeling back home. I'm taking a break from that to try my hand at making a living out of my dancing. If this goes well I won't have to model any more."

"You don't like modeling?" I asked.

She shook her head. "It's not that I don't like it." She paused for a second. "But, as you saw today it can be quite overwhelming at times. Overwhelming but easy. If you can get over the petty models and the drama. Dancing is far more challenging and I like it more."

Once we were done eating Alice herded us upstairs and ordered me to get dressed.

"You've got Five minutes Bella or I'm coming to get you."

I dug the bag of club clothes out of my closet and assessed the damage. It really could have been worse. The jeans made my butt look good and the top was almost the same color as Edward's eyes. The top hugged my chest in all the right places and the lose fabric swung around my stomach.

The top was just a little short so skin was showing just over the top of the jeans. The sleeves hung off my shoulders and left my collar bone exposed. I found a black necklace in the bag along with a pair of two inch strappy green heels.

Alice was trying to kill me.

The heels were the same color as the top. I grabbed the shoes and hurried down to Rose's room. Alice was crazy if she though I could club in these. The door was open so I didn't bother with the formality of knocking and simple let myself in.

"Alice, are you crazy?"

She glanced at me though the mirror in Rosalie's bathroom. She already had Angela in the chair and was running a brush through her hair. She saw the shoes in my hand and Angela winced.

"What's wrong with them?"

"I can't dance in these."

"Why not?"

"I'll brake something in these."

"There dance shoes Bella. I got them from a dance costume shop remember. One of us might end up wearing those on stage at some point durring the show."

"That's not the point. Club dancing is different then stage dancing. I'm not as coordinated."

She rolled her eyes and spun Angela around. "All done."

Angela looked great. Alice had forced her into a black skirt, long enough to keep Angela happy and a bright yellow top. Her hair hung in straight sheets around her face and she looked great. Angela stumbled out of the bathroom looking dazed.

"Thanks Alice."

"You're welcome Ang." She turned on me and grabbed my arm. "Your turn."

She pulled me in and sat me down were Angela had been only a moment before. She curled and sprayed my head until my hair was hanging in curls around my face. She had pinned it up enough so that my hair wasn't on my back but left it long enough to tickly my shoulders.

"Alice about the shoes." I said trying to get her back on track."

She shied and spun me around. "Close your eyes."

I did as ordered and tried to hold still as she swept make-up over my eyes and across my checks. As she worked she spoke and I could tell I was losing the shoe argument.

"Bella there is nothing different about Stage dancing and club dancing its all in your attitude. On stage you're confident so you don't fall even in the most ridicule shoes. Club dancing is the same, you get on the floor and it's like a stage. You have a partner, Edward won't let you fall. What's the big deal?"

I nodded and she thumped me on top of my head.

"Don't move."

"Sorry."

"You're going to wear the shoes Bella. They match the top and the top is staying. It's the same color as Edward's eyes. I did that on purpose."

"It's not the same."

She paused in her work and I opened one eye to look at her. She glanced at me and then down at the shirt.

"I thought it was the same."

I shook my head slowly. "Almost, Edward's eyes are a little brighter."

She glanced at the shoes and shrugged her shoulder. "They still match the shirt and the shirt is staying." She spun me around and pulled me out of the chair.

"All done."

I caught sight of myself in the mirror and gasped. I looked great, better then I had for the photo shoot. Leah was in the main bed room with Rosalie and Angela. Rosalie was dressed in the little black dress she had shown us before, her golden hair hung down her back in seamless waves and her heels had to be four inches tall.

Leah was wearing dark jeans like I was but her top was different. It was a black corset that hugged her in all the right places. Her black hair hung in sheets down her sides and her rusty skin glowed in contrast to the dark color of her clothes.

Alice was in a black and purple dress short enough to give everyone a great look at her legs. She had on four inch, royal purple heels and she was still going to be a head shorter then Jasper. Her hair spiked out around her face and there was purple glitter around her eyes.

There was a knock on the door and I found Jane standing in the hallway. She was dressed in a little red dress with matching spike heels. Her hair had been pinned up and she smiled brightly at me as the other girls joined us in the hall.

"Hi Bella."

"Wow Jane you look great."

"Thanks." She glanced over at Alice.

"Bella looks great Alice, good job."

I rolled my eyes and led the way down the hall. We walked down the stairs and slipped into the lobby without running into anyone. There were no rules about leaving the studio but with how concerned they had been over security at the photo shoot we didn't want to take a chance.

We slipped out the front door and found the boys waiting on the street. They all looked great but one in particular stood out in my eyes. I was making a new law effective immediately. Edward was no longer allowed to wear any color other then black. He had on black dress pants and a black button up, the first three buttons left undone. There was a tie hanging, lose around his neck and it matched the color of my green top.

Alice took Jaspers arm and led the way down the street. We walked a few blocks over and the building slowly started to change. The apartments and small shops near the studio gave way to flashier bars and large hotels.

Neon lights flashed over every other store and the roads were littered with cars. Alice led us confidently until we were right across the street from the larges club in sight. It was two stories and I could already feel the base pounding.

As we approached the club I caught sight of a line starting at the front door and winding down the road. A bouncer was standing guard at the door, deciding who could go in and who could not.

"Alice what kind of club is this?"

She smiled at me.

"The best kind."

Angela eyed the bouncer as we crossed the street.

"We're never going to get in."

Alice glanced at her and looked as if she had been personally offended. "Why on earth not?"

"Look at that line. We can't stay out all night Alice. We have work to do tomorrow."

Rosalie hooked an arm over Angela's shoulders and stole the words right out of Alice's mouth.

"Dear, sweat, innocent Angela. We don't have to wait in line."

Angela didn't ask and that was probably for the best. As we crossed the street Alice led us up to the bouncer and she and Rose walked forward to talk to him. He eyed them carefully as he spoke and his eyes flickered back to the rest of us.

It looked like they were discussing about the size of our group and we weren't winning. Suddenly Rosalie dropped her purse and bent over to get it. The bouncer eyed her butt as she slowly stood back up and Alice slipped a bill in his hand whispering quietly to him.

"Right this way miss."

The bouncer waved us inside and ordered a waiter to bring us to one of the privet high top tables. He turned back to the door and started turning people away again. Rose and Alice exchanged high fives. The waiter led us to a raised table large enough to fit everyone in our group plus some.

"Is this to your liking Miss?" The waitor asked addressing Alice to speak for our group.

She looked the table over and nodded. "It will do."

As the boy walked away Emmett let out a low whistle and clapped his hands.

"I'm impressed midget. You really know how to work the club."

Alice spun around so fast she was a blur of purple fabric. In a single move as swift as lightning she had Emmett backed against the wall. The heel of her shoe was pressed to his crotch and her fingers were wrapped in his hair.

She yanked on his hair so that their faces were only inches apart and he grunted as she put more presser on his favorite body part.

"Only one man has ever called me midget and lived. Consider this a warning."

He nodded, looking thoroughly scared and Alice released him.

"Good boy." She spun around and grabbed Jaspers hand. "Let's dance Tex."

Jasper ducked his head and sent her a sexy little smirk. "Yes Ma'am."

They disappeared into the mass of bodies grinding and bouncing to the music in front of a small stage. Right now a small band of boys was on the stage singing in Spanish. They had their guitars plugged into a set of amps and the ground shook with the base.

The rest of us climbed into our table and Emmett ordered a pitcher of Sangria for those amongst our party who could drink and a pitcher of water for those who could not. Rosalie ordered a set of tequila shots for her and Emmett and challenged him to a contest.

"You drink tequila?" He asked surprised.

She nodded. "I like lime."

We sat and talked and when the drinks arrived we cheered as Rose bet Emmett and slammed her empty glass down on the table.

"Done."

Emmett set his glass down and glowered. There was still some tequila in it and Rosa grabbed his glass and finished it off.

"Where the hell did you learn to drink like that?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Long story."

"I think we have time." He pressed.

Rosalie shot him a look and shook her head. "I use to run with a bad crowd. Let's leave it at that."

Emmett looked like he was curious but he didn't push her. The band on stage thanked the audience for being so great and music in English started playing over the speakers. A DJ in the corner introduced himself and turned the base up as more people filled into the dance pit.

"Come on Emmett, I need to dance off that tequila."

Rosalie took Emmett's hand and he willingly followed her onto the dance floor so they could redefine the term 'Dirty Dancing'.

I caught Edward's eye and he raised his shot glass of water at me. "Cheers."

Jane excused herself and disappeared into the dance floor. Angela was shooting the dance floor nervous looks as she and Ben talked. Ben was sipping Sangria and Angela joined me and Edward in the under twenty-one water drinking party.

Edward eyed me and then shot a glance over at the dance floor.

"You want to dance?" I asked as I refilled my glass.

He smirked at me. "I told you I'm not very good at hip-hop. I don't have any experience in this kind of dancing. I'd probebly just end up embarasing myself."

I glanced over at the dance floor. I wasn't sure if I would really call any of it dancing. Most of the pairs were grinding to the beat. A few pairs managed to dance in the close see of bodies and a few like Alice and Jasper just held each other as they swayed to the music.

The song on the radio changed and I couldn't sit still any longer. This had to be my favorite club song and no way I was sitting out.

"Come on I'll teach you."

"Are you sure?"

It was kind of cute when he was nervous. I took his hand and pulled him to his feet with me.

"It's not as hard as it looks. Let's dance."

I lead him into the sea of bodies as the song started.

_Please don't stop the music_

I had my hands on his hips as I lined up behind him and we started to dance along with the beat.

_Please don't stop the music_

"Edward loosen up, you're trying to hard."

He nodded along and tried to follow me as I sunk into my heels and let my hips swing with the music. He pulled me in front of him and gave me an exasperated look.

"I told you I'm no good at this."

"Do you trust me?"

He nodded.

"Then just follow me."

I put his hands on my hips and backed up so his chest was flush against my back. I sunk down into my heels and he followed along as I started to move to the music.

_Please don't stop the music_

He started to get the rhythm down and pulled me closer to him. I had one arm up, wrapped backwards around his head so I could play with his hair and one hand on his as he held my hip. I sunk lower as the lyrics started and waited for him to follow me. I could tell he wasn't use to letting the girl lead. I was going to have fun with this.

_It's getting late  
__I'm making my way over to my favorite place  
__I gotta get my body movin'  
__Shake the stress away  
__I wasn't looking for __nobody  
When you looked my way  
__Possible candidate, yeah_

He fell into the new rhythm and I decided to test him. I spun around and wrapped my arms around his neck. He moved his arms around my waist and kept up as I moved with the base. I had one of my knees between his leg and I could feel his breath on my check from how close our bodies were.

_Who knew?  
That you'd be up in here  
looking like you do  
You're making staying over here impossible.  
Baby I must say your aura is incredible.  
If you don't have to go, don't._

He locked his eyes on mine as he got more comfortable with the rhythm. He pressed his forehead against mine and smirked. "Do you trust me?"

I nodded along and he moved his hands. He took my left hand in his and I followed along as he spun me around. I had my free hand on his shoulder and he placed his on the small of my back. I kept my hips swinging and let him led as we actualy danced.

_Do you know what you started?  
I just came here to party  
But now we're rocking on the dance floor  
acting naughty.  
Your hands around my waist,  
just let the music play,  
we're hand in hand,  
chest to chest  
and now we're face to face._

He pulled me flush against his chest again and his hands dropped back to my hips as we dances. I had my arms around his neck and I tucked my head against his shoulder. For not ever having done this before he was a dammed good club dancer.

_I wanna take you away  
Let's escape into the music  
DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it,  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rocking to it  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the music!_

I lost myself in our dance and the rest of the club melted away. I could feel his pulse under my hand as it rested on his neck and I could hear his breath as it blew against my neck. I let my fingers trail through the hairs at the base of his neck and he shivered under my touch.

_I wanna take you away  
Let's escape into the music  
DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it,  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rocking to it  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the music!_

I pulled back a step and ran my hands down his chest. Before I knew what I was doing the rest of the buttons on his shirt were undone. I felt my cheeks flush at the bold move and spun back around so my back was against his chest and I could conveniently not look him in the eye. Where had all that confidence come from.

_Baby are you ready, cuz it's getting cold.  
Don't you feel the passion ready to explode?  
What goes on between us no one has to know.  
This is a private show! Oh_

I shivered as he kissed one of my exposed shoulders and his warm breath blew across the back of my neck. His lips trailed a line of kissed across to my other shoulder. I pressed myself back, trying to get closer and one of his knees slipped between my legs.

Now who was the tease?

As the chorus started up again I spun back around and locked my arms around his neck. His hands wrapped around me, low on my hips and he pulled me closer as we danced. I moved my lips right next to his ear and sang the next verse along with the music.

"_Do you know what you started?  
I just came here to party  
But now we're rocking on the dance floor,  
acting naughty.  
your hands around my waist  
just let the music play  
we're hand in hand,  
chest to chest  
and now we're face to face"_

I had my eyes locked on his and as I pressed impossibly closer to him his eyes darkened. It was a hungry less controlled look and I shivered. Alice had been right. His eyes were now the exact shade of this top. I pressed my forehead against his and watched as he eyed me with a look that made me wish we were both wearing less clothes.

I licked at my top lip and he pulled me even closer. Our lips locked together and we battled for dominance. I gave in and let him led as his lips traveled down along my jaw. I moved my head to the side so he had better access and I shivered as he hit a particularly sensitive spot below my right ear.

_"I wanna take you away  
Let's escape into the music  
DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it,  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rocking to it  
Please don't stop the  
__Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the music!"_

He pushed me a step away and moved his hand higher on my hip. He took my left hand in one of his and spun me in a circle. I let my free hand land on his shoulder and we started to dance more openly. I kept my hips swinging to the bet so he wouldn't lose his new found groove and he led us forward.

_Please don't stop the music._

He pulled me forward so my chest was flush against his chest and hitched one of my legs up over his hip. He wrapped both of his arms around my waist and I let go of his neck. He held me up as I bent backwards. I tightened my hold on his hip with my knee so I wouldn't lose my balance and my hair touched the floor as I swung.

He pulled me back up and I moved my arms back around his neck. Our moves stayed simple but I had no problem telling what he was going to do by the way he led me. I had never been able to move this easily with someone before.

_I wanna take you away  
Let's escape into the music  
DJ let it play  
I just can't refuse it,  
Like the way you do this  
Keep on rocking to it  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the  
Please don't stop the music!_

I spun back around so my back was against his chest again and his hands found their new spot on my hips. He didn't seem to be having any trouble finding the flow of the music now. One of his hands held my hip and the other trailed across my exposed stomach making me shiver against him.

The music slowed and I took a few deep breaths to slow my racing heart. I could feel the muscles in his chest move against my back as we danced and I couldn't believe I had actually unbuttoned his shirt. My cheeks burned but I couldn't get myself to regret the move. Edward had a great chest.

_Please don't stop the music_

As the song ended he spun be back around and we slowed the rhythm of our dancing. I rested my forehead on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms tighter around my waist. I took another deep breath breathing in his sent and I felt his breath tickle my ear as he spoke.

"How did you do that?"

I pulled back a step and lost myself in his dark eyes. It was the same hungry look he'd given me before and butterflies erupted in my stomach. I couldn't remember what I had been about to say. I licked my bottom lip again and suddenly remembered what he had said.

"Do what?"

"I didn't know I could dance like that. Tanya and Emmett have both tried to take me clubbing before and either one of them could get me to understand the music like that."

I let my hands trail down his exposed chest and he shivered under my touch. I smirked at him and shrugged my shoulders.

"You taught yourself. I was just dancing, you followed my led."

He eyed my lips again and I smirked, at least I was having the same distracting effect on him that he was having on me. I was finding it incresingly difficult to form coherent sentences. A part of me was trying to remember that I had only known Edward for a week and another part of me was trying to find a reason to touch his chest again.

"It's very easy to dance with you Bella."

We made our way back over to the table and found Emmett and Alice talking with Jane. Jane had a boy with her and I didn't miss the bit of smudged lipstick on his cheek. We sat down and Emmett offered us the pitcher of water.

"Where'd the others go?" Edward asked.

Emmett pointed to the dance pit and I followed his finger to where Angela and Ben were dancing. They weren't dancing nearly as dirty as the others were, as I had but, it was good to see them both loosening up.

"We finally got them to get out on the dance floor. Rosalie went to the bathroom awhile ago and Jasper disappeared."

I glanced over to the corner where a sign read restrooms. As I thought about it I suddenly had to go and I offered to check for Rosalie while I was gone.

"If you see Jasper, send him back." Alice added as she sipped from Emmett's sangria. He swatted her hand away and said something smart about her only being nineteen and Alice flipped him off insisting that she was a big girl and could handel herself.

Edward kissed my check and promised he would wait for me. I weved my way through the bodies and walked down a dark hall that led to the restrooms. I heard raised voices coming from around the corner and stopped when I recognized Rosalie's voice as the loudest.

"It's none of your business Jasper. Stay out of it!"

"You're my sister that makes it my business."

"You had better leave Emmett alone."

"All I did was talk to him for you Rose."

Rosalie groaned and it sounded like she kicked the wall.

"I didn't ask you to talk to him. I can take care of myself. You don't always have to protect me."

"I know that Rose. I just don't want to see you get hurt again."

There was a pause in their conversation and I flattened myself into a nearby doorway. I didn't want to get caught eavesdropping. When the

silence was broken it was Rosalie speaking. She sounded like she was trying to keep her voice low and not haveing the best time at controling her temper.

"Don't get involved Jazz. It's different this time."

Rosalie rushed around the corner and didn't even seem to see me as she moved around me. Jasper walked around the corner a few seconds later. He paused for a second his eyes locked on mine before he walked off leaving me alone in the hall. Rosalie hadn't noticed me but I was sure Jasper had.

What the hell was that all about?

I finished in the bathroom and found the others gathered at the table waiting for me. Rosalie and Jasper were avoiding eye contact with each other and the others were talking about heading back. It was getting late.

"What took you so long Bells?" Jake asked.

My eyes flickered to Jasper. He caught my eye and I could tell he was begging me not to say anything. I tried to reassure him without words that I wouldn't and returned my look back to Jake.

"There was a line. It takes girls forever to pee."

He chuckled and we started making our way towards the door. Jane was alone now and her hair and make up showed signs of a heavy makeout session. We stepped out into the cold night. I shivered as the air brushed against the sweat along the back of my neck and we made our way back to the studio. The boys said goodbye at the door to the sixth floor and Emmett wolf whistled as Edward kissed me, our way of saying goodnight.

We slipped into our hallway and silently said good night to each other. Jane, Leah, Rose and Alice disappeared into their rooms. I dug around in my bag searching for my key. It took a few moments but I finally found the tiny silver key.

"There you are."

I slid the key home and rolled the bolt over. I jumped as the door to the sixth floor opened and Jasper slipped into the hall. He caught my eye and walked almost silently over to me. He watched me for a second and ran a hand through his hair like Edward did when he was thinking about somthing.

"Bella about what you over heard at the club-"

I cut him off. Jasper and I weren't close. All I knew about him I had learned second hand from Alice. I still considered him a friend and I didn't want to wreck that fragile friendship.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop Jasper. I swear, I won't say anything. It's none of my business to get involved."

He nodded. "Thank you Bella. You must understand Rosalie is the only family I have left. We lost our parents a long time ago and I'm the only one left to look after her."

"You don't have to explain if you don't want to."

He nodded. "I know, you would never make me tell you. You're a good friend for Rosalie you deserve to know something, even if it's not my place to tell you everything. A few years ago Rosalie fell in with a bad group of people. One boy in particular hurt her pretty bad. I don't mean to come off overbearing but I won't watch her get hurt again."

I didn't fully understand but it was clear from his voice that he loved Rosalie and would do anything to protect her. In the hall they had been talking about Emmett. I was sure that his worries were centered around Emmett hurting his sister like this other boy had.

I nodded not knowing what to say.

"Don't tell Rose I told you anything." Jasper asked. "Just be there for her if she wants to talk. She's generally very open with me but on the matter of Emmett we have very different view points. I'm not sure she'll tell me if something goes wrong with him."

"I don't think you have to worry about Emmett. I get the feeling he really cares about Rosalie."

He shrugged. "I made the mistake of trusting the last bastard who dated my sister. I like Emmett too and I hope he doesn't do anything stupid but in the case of Rosalie I'm very biased. She's my sister."

I could understand were he was coming from and I would be there for Rose if she wanted to talk to me.

"I promise Jasper. And I won't tell her you talked to me."

He nodded and a small weight seemed to lift off his shoulders.

"Thank you Bella."

Jasper flashed me one of his rarely seen smiles and disappeared back up the stairs. I slipped into my room and locked the door behind me. I pulled on my pajamas and crawled under the covers.

* * *

~Darkrose  
I loved writing Edwardn and Bella dirty dance, I'll be honest that was lots of fun even if it was a little ooc.

The next chapter will be details about the show, top twenty group dance info, first dance catagories things like that. As always I hope you enjoyed the story and I would love a review. It really makes my day.

ps: I'm sorry if some of the dance text is hard to separate from the lyric text. My computer was being stupid and tried to center the hole chapter.

Pss: My birthday's on Sunday! Yippy! I'm having a masqurade party...(yes, I'm a dork I know. It's going to be so much fun.)


	14. Attraction

No particular song was use in this chapter so listen to what ever you want.

This story is turning out to be a lot longer then I expected. I wont stop until I'm done I promise but, it looks like its going to get pretty long. I mean we haven't even done week one yet and this is chapter 14. If you're a fellow writer and I'm assuming most of you are then you know that these things some times take on a life of their own and we're just along for the ride.

I do have a real plot that we're going to be following as well as the story I'm just working up to it. We can't learn all the secrets already or the story would move to fast and get rushed and sloppy. So for those of my reviewers who questioned about a plot in this story. Please bear with me, it's coming and it's good. I promise. Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?

Chapter 14- Attraction

* * *

POV-Bella

I woke the next morning at a decent time. The clock on my bed side table said it was almost six and I was feeling well rested for the first time in a week. I took a short shower and pulled on some simple practice clothes.

It was almost seven when I walked into the lounge and most of the dancers were already gathered there eating breakfast. I found Edward and Emmett sitting together and I joined them with my bagel and juice.

"Good morning boys."

Edward scooted over and I waved a finger at Jane when I caught her eye from the other side of the room.

"Morning Bell." Emmett said sipping from his coffee mug and sticking his nose back in the paper he was holding.

"Good morning Bella." Edward said and he scooted closer to my side.

Leah was the last one down. Just as she was sitting down to eat, Cat Deeley and crew man Jeff walked in holding a camera. Conversation died down and all eyes in the room turned on her.

"Once everyone's done eating we will go down to the auditorium and film your first style choice. Ladies will draw a card out of the hat and then you will head upstairs to meet your first choreographer. We will talk more about the flow of the show on Tuesday."

She got up and left with Jeff in toe. Conversation stayed low as everyone quickly finished eating so we could get started. The pressure and excitement of the moment was mounting. Tonight the last of the callbacks would be aired on TV and the whole world would know our names.

Cat was waiting for us on stage and she lined us up next to her.

"Boy's in back girls stand off to the side a little so their windowed between you. America wants to see all of your faces."

Once everyone was set we got a Cue from one of the cameras and Cat feel into Host mode.

"Welcome America it's time for our top twenty to learn what dance styles they will face for the first week of the show. Each team will come forward and draw a style out of the hat."

She held up a black top-hat so the camera could see it and shook it so the cards inside rattled. That hat held out destiny. It was easy to impress the judges with a fast fun piece and even easier to sway America with a flashy dance. It was harder when you got something slow. Dances like the Argentine Tango or the Viennese Waltz were easier for everyone to criticize.

Then there were the diffrent choreographers. So many impressive people we would get the chance to work with. Mia Michaels, known for beautiful contemporary dances that had on more then one occasion brought people to tears.

Sonya Tayeh, known for darker, scarier routines that made people think and drove America crazy. Sonya was one of the top on my list. Wade Robson, Tabitha & Napoleon D'umo the best pair of choreographers the show had ever seen. Getting the chance to work with any of them would be an honor.

Then there was the possibility of drawing something like dreaded "Quick Step". Couples who got it usually were torn apart by the judges and America alike. Or you could get something really weird like African, Russian folk, or even Ballet.

God I didn't want to draw Ballet.

I hadn't been listening to Cat but I focused on her again as she called the first group forward.

"Leah why don't you come and find out what you and Emmett will be dancing to week one."

Leah stepped forward and Emmett followed along behind her. Cat pulled them in next to her and held out the hat to Leah. Leah took a deep breath and stuck her hand into the hat. She fished around for a second and pulled out a slip of paper.

"Cha-Cha"

Emmett nodded along and Cat gave them a studio number. She called group after group up and slowly different styles were pulled from the hat.

"Jazz"

"Salsa"

"Cuban Rumba"

"Tango"

"Hip-Hop"

Dang, I was jealous. The most likely place to be paired with Tabitha & Napoleon D'umo was Hip-Hop. Cat called Alice and Mike forward. Alice skipped ahead and Mike followed her up keeping his hand on her shoulder.

Alice stuck her hand into the hat and drew out a slip of paper. She peeked under the lip and smiled turning it around so the camera could see.

"Contemporary."

Mike nodded along and Cat gave them a studio number before asking them to step aside. Cat glanced at her card and then called my name.

"Bella lets see what style you and Edward will be performing on Wednesday."

I stepped forward and Edward walked with me. We stopped in front of Cat and she shook the hat at me. So much hung on a little slip of paper, if I chose something bad we could go home the first week. I knew someone had to go home week one but, how embarrassing.

I stuck my hand into the hat and fished around in the remaining slips of paper. Just pick one Bella! I grabbed a slip of paper and pulled it out of the hat. Here goes nothing. I squeezed my eyes close and flipped open the paper.

I felt Edward go stiff and Cat made a funny noise.

"I think America's going to be in for a special treat."

I opened my eyes and peeked at the card.

"Bollywood."

Cat smiled at the camera and I shot a look up at Edward. He chuckled at me and my face dropped into a scowl.

"There you have it America, the first Bollywood routine of the season." Cat turned back to us. "You will find your choreographer waiting in studio seven. Now please step this way."

She waved us over to where the other couples were standing.

"Jasper and Victoria your next."

Victoria skipped forward and grabbed a slip of paper from the hat.

"Viennese Waltz?"

Cat directed them back in line and called the last group forward.

"Ben and Jessica, come get your style."

Jessica dug into the hat and drew her fate.

"Jive"

Cat talked to the camera a little bit and told everyone to be sure they saw the first week of the new season where the new top twenty would begin their climb to the goal prize of becoming "America's favorite dancer."

As she did her goodbyes I glanced up at Edward. He caught my eye and smiled at me. I grinned back sheepishly and mouthed. "I'm sorry."

He cocked his head to the side and mouthed back. "Why?"

I held up the little piece of paper with our deaths on it. I'd never done Bollywood before. I doubted he had ever done Bollywood before. We were going to get eaten alive and it was all my fault. I'd seen Bollywood done on the show before. The dances were extremely detailed every little movement had to be perfect.

He shrugged and glanced up at Cat. She had finished specking and the cameras were being turned off.

"It's ok Bella. That's what this show is all about, giving us a chance to try new types of dance. It would be boring if we always got something we already knew."

"I guess but, Bollywood."

He took my hand and started leading me to the edge of the stage.

"Come on lets see who our choreographer is."

A camera man met us when we stepped off the stage.

"Edward, Bella?"

I nodded. "That's us."

"My names Roger, I am your camera man."

"What does that mean?" Edward asked.

He shifted his camera on his shoulder and motioned for us to walk ahead of him.

"I will join you in your studio and film your first day working with your choreographer. Camera men are only aloud to film on the first day of work. I'll do little interviews, my video will be used to make clips for the show. You've seen the show before it's my job to catch you falling over each other at first and ask you questions about the show."

We nodded and started to climb the stairs. I had never thought about it before but it would make sense for a camera man to come with us. Little clips of the dancers work were always played before they performed on Wednesdays.

We stopped outside the boor that had a big blue seven on it and I took a deep breath. Edward pushed the door open and took my hand. I followed his lead as he spun me into the room and I heard someone call our names.

"Edward, Bella, Welcome"

Roger followed us in, circling us with his camera. I did my best to ignore him and turned my attention to the man waiting for us. He had light brown skin and his black hair was saved down. It was Nakul Dev Mahajan. I'd seen him on the show a couple of times before.

"You're the guy who choreographed "Dhoom Taana" in season four." Edward said as we both took a turn embracing him.

He nodded. "My names Nakul Dev Mahajan, welcome to Bollywood."

"A pleasure."

He clapped his hands seeming completely comfortable with the camera who was now circling around him.

"Have either of you done Bollywood before?"

We shook our head and he nodded. "I figured that. It's not a very common style in the states yet. It will be a chalange but I think you will both enjoy it in the end."

He walked over to a stereo system that was plugged into speakers wired around the room. He pushed a button and a song started playing. It was a high speed song with several instruments I didn't recognize. A singer started singing and I was betting the language was Hindi, but it really could have been anything. I spoke english and my spanish was limited to burrito.

"Here's your song, lets get started why don't we."

I took off my extra top and tossed it into a corner. Nakul took my hand and lead me into the middle of the room.

"This song is going to start slow for about thirty seconds then it will turn into a high energy routine and stay that way until the end. Bella you are a Hindi street dancer performing on the road. You're going to start the dance." He stood next to me and had me copy his opening stance.

"Look at my left ankle."

I shifted my toes and tried to match each part of my body to his.

"Check your fingers."

I adjusted my fingers.

"Other hand."

Oops. I fixed my fingers and moved up both of my arms matching the angels exactly.

"Good now hold it while I set Edward. I want you to memorize that pose"

I did as I was told while he worked with Edward behind me.

"Edward you are walking down the street, just minding your own business going to the market or something. As you're walking down the street a dancer catches your eye. You try to ignore her but, she convinces you to dance with her."

He returned to my side.

"I'll go slow Bella. Try to follow along."

I watched as he moved. He skipped forward and shifted his weight onto his right leg. I followed along as he moved across the floor. The moves themselves were fairly simple. Each of the foot movements flowed from one to the next.

Nakul walked through the set a few times with me.

"Wait Bella focus on your ankle for a moment."

He knelt down and held onto my foot as I ran through the moves slower. His hands guided my ankle as I rolled from one pose to the next.

"There just like that, do it again."

I started over running the entire set.

"Spin right at the end not left."

"Sorry."

He shook his head. "It's all good, just run it again."

I started over from the opening pose. Winding my way forward and moving into the set of role steps. Nakul worked with me slowly starting at my ankles and moving to all of the main joints in the dance.

I had to watch my knees and make my hips flow seamlessly with my feet. He had me work on the connection from my hips to my chest and then up into my shoulders. I must have run the set fifty times.

"Good, don't worry about your arms right now I'll show you the hands later. Keep doing that and I'm going to show Edward his opener."

I walked back to the other side and took the opening pose, making sure to check every little detail of my body. At this tempo the moves were not physically challenging it was the attention to detail that would throw us off.

As I worked I peeked back at how Edward was doing. Nakul was leading Edward though his own set of steps. As he worked he explained some of the dance concept to us. Edward would be dancing in the back and I would be in the front.

Edward would turn when he got to the far side and see me dancing. By this time I would be at the end of my role steps on the other side of the stage. He would try to dance back to the other side of the stage without me seeing him.

"Unfortunately Edward you're not very sneaky. Bella will see you and wave you to come join her. You'll refuse a little, try to walk away, she'll grab your arm and get you to dance with her. That's when the tempo will change and move into double time."

While Nakul had been talking, he was watching Edward go over his first set and Edward stepped wrong.

"Left foot, watch your ankle. Make the move smooth."

Edward did it again and Nakul knelt down to hold his foot like he had for me. He grilled us in the opening sets until we had the foot motions down.

"There you've got it. The first twenty seconds from the waist down."

Edward and I chuckled and our camera man messed with his camera. He waved to get Nakul's attention.

"I'll need to do first impression interviews with each of them individually. At your convenience I'll take them into the hall."

Nakul nodded and pointed at Edward. "You can have Edward. I'll run the hands with Bella."

Edward waved and slipped out into the hall with Roger. Nakul had me start back at the opening pose and showed me how to move my hands. With each step of my feet I would move my hands into a new spot and hit a new pose.

"Touch you fingers here, then take the next step, good just like that. Do it again."

Repeat

"Ok now raise your hands above you, don't forget your hips."

I did it again.

"Yeah, just like that, role all the way from your heel to your toes."

Over and over.

"Hands above your head, role up your body, start at your hips and work the role up to your fingers."

We worked together on the first set of steps adding in the hand choreography. I ran the move over and over, watching my feet, keeping my hips smooth and now hitting each of the hand poses. Nakul hovered over me watching all of the details and pointing it out when I did something wrong or needed to make something better.

"Go back to the beginning Bella. Run the entire set but make it all smooth. You know all of the individual steps you just need to make it all one move now."

I started over. Edward and Roger came back inside. Roger had his camera out and Edward got back to running his opener.

I closed my eyes as I worked, keeping my breathes even I tried to remember ever hand placement. Each foot movement had a corresponding hand movement. Together it looked really cool. Once I got to the end I opened my eyes and jumped back. Nakul was standing right in front of me.

"Woops sorry Bella, didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm ok."

Edward chuckled and I shot him an exasperated look. Nakul nodded and then looked over at Roger.

"You can borrow Bella now I think she's got it."

I waved a finger at Edward and slipped into the hall with Roger. Roger had me stand against a window at the end of the hall for the beter lighting.

"Ok Bella." He turned his camera on me.

"What are your first impressions of the show? Are you nervous?"

I nodded. "Of course I am. You'd have to be a fool not to be nervous. All of the dancers here have proven themselves to be good, but I'm super excited to get the opportunity to be on this show. It's been a dream of mine for a while now."

He nodded. "What about your partner? How are you and Edward getting along?"

I flushed and ran a hand through my hair to try and give myself a second to think. I really didn't want to be part of a showmance. Had there ever been a showmance on this show before? What had Edward said about our relationship? I was going to have to talk to him about what we told the cameras.

"Um, he's really great. He's a great dancer I was really glad to get the chance to dance with him. He's a good guy."

"You danced once before with Edward during the callbacks right?" Roger asked cutting me off.

I nodded and shifted uncomfortable. "Yes, we partnered together for a contemporary piece."

"Do you think that will give you an advantage over the other couples who haven't had a chance to work together?"

I shrugged. "Probably a little bit. We've already had a chance to experience each other as dancers but the style we got this week is so far out of both of our comfort ranges I'm not sure it'll have much of a difference on our performance."

"What do you think about drawing Bollywood on week one?"

"My lucky coin failed me."

He chuckled. "Do you always wear that coin?"

I nodded. "I've been wearing it for a long time. It's my lucky charm."

"Have you ever done Bollywood before?"

"Nope, this is my first time."

"How do you feel about working with Nakul?"

I thought for a second. We had only been working for a couple of hours. "Um, so far it's been really great. A lot of repetition, buts it's needed. Bollywood is very detail oriented. I've seen Nakul's routines on the show before and it's an honor to meet one of the great choreographers who work with FOX to make this show?"

"How do you feel about making to the top twenty?"

Good question. How did a feel about making it this far? I never thought I would actually make it to the callbacks let alone all the way to the top twenty. This was a dream come true. I was doing what a loved on a show that promoted the physical arts getting to dance with others who lived to dance as much as I did.

"It's over whelming. I never thought I would get this far."

He nodded and the little red light on the camera flashed off.

"Ok Bella were all done for now. You can head back inside."

"Aren't you coming?"

"I'll be back after lunch."

Roger disappeared down a flight of stairs and I let myself back into the studio. Nakul was shadowing Edward as they moved through Edwards set. Edward had his eyes locked on Nakul's hands trying to follow him.

They were doing the same moves but Edward lacked a level of fluidity that Nakul had. Nakul was dancing in slow motion. Edward was doing a set of moves paying to much attention to his hands and not enough on his torso.

Nakul stood back up and instructed us both to get into the opening pose. I was on stage left and Edward was on stage right. Nakul counted us off and we started moving. The set was at a mild tempo easy to keep up as long as you didn't forget any of the steps.

We were facing a mirror wall so I could see Edward as he danced behind me. Our opening sets had a lot of similarities but almost no identical moves. Nakul had us run the set a dozen times pointing out moves in my choreography that Edward could use to time his. On stage there would be no mirror so it was the job of the dancer in back to stay in time with their partner.

When Nakul was happy with the opener he ran through the next move. It was more of the same for Edward. He had to dance back across the stage. My moves didn't involve any actual moving but the techniques were different.

"Bella this set is going to be like a cross between Bollywood and belly dance. It'll look better with your costume but for now I just want you to role up your top. I was thankfully I had remembered to change into a sports bra. I rolled my shirt up and pinned it in the back so my stomach was exposed.

Nakul had already ditched his top and he helped me work on some of the moves while Edward worked on his second set.

The belly dancing part was a lot easier then the Bollywood sat had been. A lot of the hip movements were similar to Samba and the rest just came naturally.

"Very good Bella, just like that. Do it again, from the top."

We ran the opener into the second set over and over until Nakul instructed us to move on. At the end of my second set I had to spin around and spot Edward for the first time in the dance. I beckoned him forward and he backed away from me as I advanced towards him.

"Now you're not going to take that Bella." Nakul said and he moved through my next set.

"You're going to move forward like this so his path is blocked."

I followed along behind him and tried to mimic the moves he was doing. I blocked Edwards path and moved forward.

"You're going to show off a little bit, try to convince him to come dance with you. Can you do a front flip?"

…What?

"Not that I know of. I've never done any kind of flips before unless I was being helped by a partner."

He nodded. "Then this will be good for you. Watch me."

He took a few stepped forward and then took a double step. The double step was faster and he use it to give him the momentum to do what looked like a cartwheel with no hands. I was going to land on my head and die. What a van on the road couldn't do I was going to do to myself trying to learn that move.

Nakul did the move a few times and then smiled back at me. "Ready to try?"

I gulped. He walked me through the move a few times, showing me right were to place my feet and how to angle my body once I was in the air. It was just like a cartwheel. Just with no hands. Nakul must have seen my internal freak out because he tryed to make the move a littel easyer.

"Why don't you try it one-handed first? We can work on no hands later."

I still wasn't feeling completely comfortable with the flip but it seemed a lot more likely that I would live with one hand to help ground me. Nakul showed me the move again, this time ending with his hand out in front of him bracing his weight on the ground.

"Once your hand is in place you just need to kick your legs over your head. Try to keep your back straight so you don't twist anything and don't hesitate or you'll fall over."

Easy for him to say.

"You can do it Bella." Edward encouraged. I turned my back on Nakul and took a few steps back so I had more room.

"Actually Edward you're going to need to know how to do this to so let me show you. If you can both learn this move it will make the end of the dance come faster."

Ha ha ha. At least I wouldn't die alone.

"Bella you go ahead and try while I show Edward."

I took a deep breath and practiced the move a few times again. It wasn't too hard, a couple of the steps we had learned earlier and then the double step. I did the double step and leaned forward bracing my hand on the ground.

Ok Bella you can do it. Just go.

I rolled my eyes. Who was I kidding? No one, I was about to land flat on my ass. I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself to do it. Just go.

Not working. I tryed again and hesitated right before the flip.

The door to the studio opened and Roger came in with his camera. He saw Nakul do the flip and swung his camera up on his shoulder to film us. Damnit! He wasn't suposed to come back yet. Now he was going to film me falling on my ass and the whole world would get to see it.

Edward took a few steps forward and threw himself into the flip. His legs flew over his head and he landed on his toes. He rocked backwards and lost his balance landing on the floor. I tried not to because I knew I would be no better but the giggle escaped my mouth before I could bite it back.

He glanced up at me. "Why don't you try it then?"

"I'm sorry Edward."

He stood up and waved for me to go ahead. "Ladies first."

"You already went." I pointed out.

He nodded. "Fine, then it's your turn."

"If I die you have to call my mom and tell her."

He shrugged. "Ok. I'd like to talk to Renee."

"Thanks for the confidence."

I backed up a few more steps and raced forward. I messed up one of the steps but it was too late to change it. I bent forward, braced my hand and tried to kick my legs over my head. I couldn't keep my back straight and I wobbled mid-air. I bent backwards and lost my balance.

"Ouch."

I landed flat on my back and the air whooshed from my lungs.

"Bella?" Edward bent over me. "Are you ok?"

I nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm good."

"You almost made it."

I grumbled at him as he helped me up. I had not 'almost made it'.

"Your turn."

Edward backed up a few steps and we took turns trying the flip. By about his tenth try Edward was landing on his feet. I was still landing on my ass. Edward pulled me to my feet after another failed flip. Roger kept his camera on us as we practiced and taped all of our falls for later. I had the strange urge to hit him right in his camera lense.

"You're still not keeping your back straight."

"I can't help it. Once I get in the air my spine doesn't feel like staying straight."

Nakul let us take a brake from the flips and had us run the first two sets again. I managed to remember all of the foot work and most of the hand poses.

"Just like that. Edward make that last step longer you need to be right behind Bella when she turns around." We reached the end of what we new and stopped.

"Right here is where you're going to flip Bella. When you land Edward will pick you up and I'll show you the first lift."

I nodded along and Nakul showed Edward how to grab me after I landed. It was a straight lift, once I got in the air I would do a V kick and then Edward would set me down.

"We can work on the first partner set tomorrow. You have an appointment with Max at two for your costume fitting. I want you both to spend sometime on that flip tonight. We won't be meeting again until tomorrow morning that way all of the dancers can watch the show tonight. By tomorrow your names are going to by known all over the country."

No prussure.

Nakul gave me a few pointers on the flip and then dismissed us for lunch. As we were walking down the hall Alice and Mike came out of studio five. They waved good bye to their choreographer and Alice jumped to my side.

"Bella we got to work with Mia Michaels."

"No way."

"Yeah and the piece she gave us is fantastic. How's the Bollywood coming?"

I shrugged and Edward wrapped his arm over my shoulder. "The dancing is fine but Bella is having a little trouble getting the flip down."

"You have to do a flip in your dance."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's harder then it looks."

"Let everyone know were going to meet in your room to watch the callbacks tonight."

What? "Why my room?"

"It's the neatest. We'll all fit in your room."

"Fine." We found the others in the lounge already eating. Alice wasn't limping so Mike must be better at contemporary then tango.

During lunch everyone talked about their different styles and the choreographers they had been assigned. Out of our main group Jasper seemed to be having the hardest time. He and his partner, Victoria had drawn Viennese Waltz out of the hat and they were having a hard time with it.

"You'll do fine Jazz." Rosalie said as she picked at her food. It was the first time I had heard them speak to each other since the fight at the bar.

Jasper nodded shooting her a glance. "We still have time."

"We're going to meet in Bella's room to watch the callbacks." Alice announced.

There were mumbled agreements and oks. Jake excused himself from our gathering tonight. He had already made plans to watch the callbacks with His partner Heidi in Leah's room with Jane and another boy I hadn't meet yet named Demetri.

Rosa groand at the name and rubbed her temples. "That boy is going to get me eliminated." Demetri and Rosa had drawn Salsa out of the hat. Rose loved it but Apparently Demetri didn't have a lot of formal training so he was slowing them down.

"He's a good dancer." She said looking around the room checking to see if he was within ear shot. "He just doesn't know a lot of the basic steps or the names of any of the moves. Out choreographer tells us to do a double step into a toe point and he doesn't know what that means. He can do it after I show him but it's making our work very slow."

Conversation switched to partners. Alice was doing fine with Mike because he was a contemporary dancer but she was concerned about some of the lifts.

"He keeps running into me. Our choreographers already got me in four inch shoes so were closer to the same height. I won't be able to walk if we go any higher."

Emmett and Leah were getting along fine but their strong personalities seemed to be in conflict. Emmett kept grumbling about how stubborn she was. Tanya and her partner James seemed to be getting along but I was willing to bet no one would ever be good enough for Tanya.

I turned my attention back to my plate and tried to tune her out as she talked. I almost felt bad for my poor attitude twoards her. Tanya was rude to me but she was mean to everyone. I doubted it was anything personal. I really didn't have any good reason to hate her as much as I did. I just didnt like her.

I was sitting to Edward's left and Tanya was on his right. While she was talking she weaved her fingers threw his and I remembered why I hated her. She and Edward had history. They had been dancing together for a few years and they had been friends for longer them that. She new his parents, he knew her two sisters. I still didn't know that much about him.

I was jealous, it was the only explanation I could come up with and I hated it.

"Bella are you done eating?"

Hu? I glanced up and found Edward watching me. I had been staring at his hand where it was trapped in Tanya's and deciding the best way to get her to let go of him. "What?"

"Are you done eating?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

He picked up my plate and tossed it with his into a trash can. "Let's go work on your flip. We have some time before our fitting."

I nodded and smiled as he let go of Tanya's hand so he could help me up. "You just want to watch me fall on my face some more."

He smirked. "Yep."

We said goodbye and headed to one of the extra studios on the third floor. We found an empty one and Edward showed me how to do the flip again. He still wasn't landing right but at least he could land on his feet.

"Why don't you try it slowly and I'll help you keep your back straight."

"Ok"

I took the steps slowly and then the double step. I kept my pace slow as I bent over and braced my hand on the ground. Edward grabbed my hips and guided me over as I kicked up my legs. His hands slipped up my sides so one was against my back and the other was on my stomach. My back stayed straight and I felt how my balance rolled along my hand.

I feel to my knees when I landed but it was better then landing on my back. We did the flip a few more times and soon I was able to land on my feet with his help.

"That's getting better Bella try it once on your own."

I tried the flip again by myself this time and landed on my feet. I wobbled to the side but I didn't fall. I didn't fall over!

"Edward I did it!"

I jumped into his arms and locked mine around his neck. He spun me around once and set me back on my feet. He was smiling at me and I felt my checks flush.

"Good job Bella."

"Thanks."

I watched him and we stood there in silence for a second. I glanced around paranoid and didn't see any cameras watching us. I stood on my toes and pressed my lips softy against his. I pulled back but he moved forward with me. Our kiss deepened and his hands found their way around to my lower back. We stayed like that for as long as we could, eventually braking apart to gasp for breath.

"Bella, during your interview did Roger ask you about us?"

Edward asked as his hands slipped off of me and fell to his sides. I nodded and knew what he was going to ask. I hadn't gotten a chance to bring it up yet. We had to decide where we stood in front of the cameras. I wanted to know where we stood behind the cameras.

"What did you tell him?"

I shrugged. "That we were getting along really well and I thought you were a good dancer."

He nodded. "That's all I said too. I think we should keep the kissing away from the camera."

I nodded. "I really don't want to be part of a showmance."

"Is that all this is, a Showmance?"

I didn't know how to answer that. I'd never fallen for anyone like I was falling for Edward but, could my emotions only be related to the show. I'd started falling for him on day one. He was so attractive anyone would notice. He was such a good dancer, getting to work with him during the call backs had been the icing on the cake. I'd never been able to dance like that with anyone. Then he had come to look for my when I was late, he'd risked his life to save me. I was falling hard.

"I don't know. What else could it be?"

I was a chicken shit. I didn't want to man up to my feeling first. I wanted to know what he thought of me.

He shrugged. "Attraction."

I looked up at him and tried to read the emotions on his face. He was completely serious, that I was certain of but I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Was he really attracted to me.

"What about Tanya? You've known her so much longer then me. It's obvious she likes you."

He shook his head. "Tanya and I are just friends. She's practically my cousin. I've known her for as long as I can remember. She's asked me out a few times but I've always turned her down. Tanya's a great dancer but she's not the best human being. I've never returned her affection, or any girl's affection really. I've never meet anyone like you before Bella. I can generally read people very well but, with you. I have no idea what you're going to do next. You always take me by surprise."

I stood on my toes kissing him, affectively shutting him up. I'd heard what I wanted to know. He didn't like Tanya. He had never liked Tanya, at least not in the way he liked me. I pulled back a step and waited until he locked eyes with me before I spoke.

"I'm attracted to you too Edward. I've never meet anyone like you before. I wasn't lying when I told you I've never dated before. These feelings are all new to me."

"Are they good feeling?"

I nodded. "Definitely."

"Good to know." He kissed me again and his arms snaked around my waist again. We kissed until the need for oxygen became too much and we had to brake apart panting for air.

"However, I think we should keep our relationship from the cameras. I think the show and our friends would have a field day." He said glancing around like I had, looking for cameras.

I nodded completely agreeing. Alice already knew something was up and I had already talked a bit about my crush with Angela but I was willing to keep it quiet if he was.

"No camera kissing. I can do that."

"There's no cameras right now." He pointed out and I saw his eyes drop to my lips once again.

I nodded and pressed myself closer to him. "They could have all the rooms wired with spy cameras."

"Then we've already been caught." He said and he kissed the side of my jaw.

"True."

"That would have to be some kind of record." He whispered against my skin as he made his way along my jaw to my lips.

"What kind of record?" I asked as he kissed the corner of my mouth.

"Worlds shortest hidden relationship."

I chuckled and jumped when his watch beeped. He glanced down at it and tore himself a step away from me.

"If we don't head upstairs we'll be late for our fitting."

I took a step forward and bounced on my toes so I could kiss him one more time. He reached for me but I slipped out of his grasp and out the door. He followed me into the hall mumbling something about me being a tease. I just shot him a grin and ducked up the stairs. Maybe I was a tease, he didnt seem to mind.

Max was waiting for us and she ordered Edward into one of the back rooms with one of her assistants. Once he was gone she pulled me into the girl's dressing room and stood me up on one of the circle platforms.

"Strip." She commanded grabbing a hand full of cloth off the chair next to her.

"What?"

She held up a circle of cloth with clear straps. The cloth was bright green and layered with beads and coins. It laced up in the back and would leave my top almost completely exposed. Even Summer had never forced me to wear a tub-top like that before.

"You're going to be wearing traditional clothes for your Bollywood dance and I need to fit you."

There was a matching pair of pants behind her and several scarves and skirts all in bright colors. All of the garments were beaded and she had gold jewelry lined up on a counter behind her.

She waited and I didn't move.

"Do you want me to help you?" She asked taking a step forward. "I have sixteen more dancers that need to get in here yet today."

"I can do it."

I tried not to grumble as I striped to my bra and kicked off my shoes. This was going to get old really fast.

* * *

~Darkrose

Sorry that took so long. My birthday was kind of hectic and I'm trying to get all of my fall school courses finalized. Why dose it have to be so damned complicated to sign up for a class so you can sit in a desk for an hour and ignore your teacher?

Anyway let me know what you think. I don't have a song picked for this routine because, frankly I don't know anything about Bollywood music, if you know a good one that hasn't been used on the show before I would appreciate your help. It was just to tempting to give Edward and Bella something outstanding for their first week.


	15. You could stay

This chapter doesn't have a song to it but I'll try to get one worked into the story soon.

WooHoo! The top four just performed their final dances and it was fantastic. Vote for Evan! I really hope he wins this and if he doesn't I think Branden should. They're both really good.

Chapter 15- You could stay

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POV- Bella

Max pulled on my hair one more time and tightened one of the straps on my top. "There you go Darlin', all done. What do you think?"

I spun around and looked at myself in the long mirror. This costume was the neatest thing I'd ever worn. The baggy pants hugged my hips and matched the same bright green color the top was made of. The top had straps that hung loose over my shoulders and left my collar bone exposed. It was laced tight in the back and the clear straps over my shoulders would keep it from falling down.

I had an orange scarf tied around my waist and a matching veil pinned in my hair. A gold circlet adorned with beads and ribbons was pinned in my hair and it held the veil in place so only my eyes were visible above the mesh fabric.

I was bare foot and my ankles and wrists were lined with thin gold bangles. I had gold hoops in my ears and a gold necklace around my neck. I even had a fake belly button piercing. She had showed me how my hair would curl around the circlet and showed me the color of the make up I would wear around my eyes.

"It's beautiful Max."

She nodded. "The ties around your ankles will keep the pants out of the way so you don't trip yourself and I'll make those clear straps tighter as well. We don't want your top falling off during the show."

"No we don't."

She rummaged around in a box along the wall and pulled out a strapless bra in the same green color as my costume.

"I believe this is your size. Try it on."

I pulled tube top up and swapped my sports bra with the green one. It was a perfect fit and it would hide under my costume. Just in case.

"Why don't we go see if Edward's done?"

I nodded and jumped off the platform I had been standing on for the last hour. The costume jingled as I walked. As I followed Max out into the main room I tried a few of the moves Nakul had showed me. I would have to get use to the weight of the pants. The beads weighed them down and would have pulled the loose pants right off if it wasn't for the tie hidden in the fabric that was pulled tight around my hips to keep them on.

Max knocked on the wood next to the red curtain that acted as a door for the boy's dressing room. All of the doors in Max's costume shop had been replaced with curtains. Girls could go behind the purple curtains, boys could go behind the red curtains and the black curtains were for Max and her staff.

"Are you boy's done in there?" She called.

"One more second Max."

A boy's voice I recognized responded and I could hear more beads rattling on the other side of the curtain. There was some shuffling, a thumping sound and then Edward emerged from behind the curtain. He smiled when he saw me waiting for him and we took in each others costumes. Max was brilliant.

Edward was wearing pants similar to mine only in light blue. He was layered with scarves and beads and even had a silver circlet in his hair. Instead of a tube top like I was wearing he had on a traditional vest in the same blue color as his pants.

The vest was embroidered with gold designs and he had on gold bracers around his wrists. The vest hung open and I loved the view of his chest it gave off. There was a large amulet around his neck and it matched the color of the gem around my neck and stuck to my belly.

"Wow, Bella you look great."

I blushed. "You too."

"Think you can dance in that?" He asked walking around me to take in the whole costume.

"I'll make it work."

There was a knock on the front curtain and Leah walked in with Emmett.

"We're here for our fitting." Leah said as Max walked over to talk to them.

Emmett spotted Edward and I and whistled. "Looking good Bell."

I spun around and shook my hips so the beads rattled. "Thank you Em."

Leah ordered me to spin around so she could see the whole thing and Edward spun me in a circle. Once I was done I took Edward's hand and made him spin too.

"That's beautiful." Leah said as she admired the circlet in my hair. Max popped up at her side and pointed back at Emmett.

"You go with Edward back in that room." She pointed to the red certain. "Jason is waiting for you."

Jason was the boy who had done my hair for the partner shot. Now I remembered why I recognized the voice. I walked up to the curtain and knocked on the wood next to it.

"Jason?!? Are you in there?"

There was some rumbling and then Jason's frosted head peeked around the curtain. He smiled when he saw me and walked out into the main room so I could give him a hug. His blue eyes matched the color of his tie and he looked fantastic.

"Bella, I didn't know you were Edward's partner. Good to see you again girl. How have you been?"

"I'm good, It's good to see you again." I spun around and showed him the costume, making sure all of the beads and bracelets jingled. "What do you think?"

He smiled. "I think, I dibs helping you and Edward with your quick change during the show."

Max nodded and shoved him back behind the curtain with Edward and Emmett. "Fine, you can have her as long as she's comfortable with that. Right now I want Edward's costume packed in his box and Emmett on your platform. We still have a bunch of people to get in here today."

Jason poked his head back out of the curtain. "What do you say Bella can I be your quick change helper?"

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate?" I giggled, as Edward voiced his opinion from the other side of the curtain. Jason raised an eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder at where I assumed Edward was standing. "Why? I don't think my boyfriend would mind. I don't like girls like that. Bella would have no reason to feel uncomfortable with me."

I giggled and I could hear Emmett howling from the other side of the curtain. "You walked right into that one Eddie."

There was a whap and Emmett cursed. I smiled back at Jason and nodded. "It's fine by me as long as your boyfriend doesn't mind."

The black curtain along the far wall moved and a boy with sandy colored hair and dark brown eyes popped his head out and smiled at us. "I don't mind."

Jason smiled at the boy and blew him a kiss. "Thanks Kev."

"Just as long as that Edward boy doesn't make a move on you." I shoved my hand in my mouth to muffle my giggles and Emmett started howling again. Leah fell off the stool she was sitting on and Jason made a face like he smelled something bad.

"No worries Kevin, baby. I prefer blondes."

Kevin winked at Jason and then disappeared back behind the black curtain. Max rolled her eyes and glanced at Jason who still had his head poking through the curtain.

"Why did I hire you two again?" She asked.

Jason winked at her. "Because we're wicked awesome."

"Go get those boys changed." She ordered whapping Jason on the head with a magazine she was holding. He ducked behind the curtain and cursed.

Max turned on me and Leah and pointed at the purple curtain. We got up and hurried into the girl's changing room before she could get mad at us. I jumped back up on the platform and Max helped me undo all of the hidden ties keeping the costume up.

She showed me the box I would be using to hold my costumes for as long as I was on the show. I pulled my clothes back on and she showed me how to fold the costume and gave me a box to keep the jewelry neat.

"You'll put your group dance costume in here as well as your solo outfit. Everything you want brought to the stage needs to be in this box. I will make sure the boxes get there. If you forget something it's not my fault."

I nodded. "Where do I get my solo outfit?"

"Talk to Kevin as soon as we're done. He'll show you where you can find one." She showed me where I could store my box in a rack along the back wall of the girls changing room. There were ten boxes in the rack, one for each of us.

"Leah dear, get on the platform and strip."

Leah gave Max a look similar to the one I had given her and then glanced over at me. "What did she just tell me to do?"

I nodded. "Strip."

Leah shrugged. "That's what I thought she said."

Leah pulled her top over her head and I slipped back into the main room. Edward wasn't back yet so I knocked on the wood next to the black curtain. Kevin's head popped out and he smiled at me. "Back again so soon Bella. What can I help you with?"

"Where can I find a solo outfit?"

He smiled. "This way."

He stepped out from behind the black curtain and led me down a long hall in the back of the costume room. The hall was painted black and it was lined with pictures of past dancers. There were hand prints in bright colored paint along the wall and some of them had names painted under them.

"What is all of this?"

Kevin glanced at the wall. "Every year there are a few dancers who befriend members of the costume shop. Your hand print only gets in this hall if one of the costume shop workers asked you to add it. It doesn't have any meaning on the show but the dancers who get here generally do well."

He pointed to a pair of neon orange hands. "That was Benji from season two." He pointed to another pair of hands. The hands were a mix of bright blue and yellow and it looked like the hands had been dragged along the wall while the pain was still wet. "That was Lacey from season three."

The neon colors of the hand prints stood out against the black walls. I started recognizing more of the people in the pictures. All of the pictures were of dancers who had been on the show. I recognized most of the faces but couldn't remember a lot of the names.

We turned around a corner and passed through another curtain. It was like we had walked into a warehouse. It looked like a smaller version of the prop shop. The large room was filled with racks and racks of costume bags. Boxes of shoes and racks of accessories lined the walls and filled the room from ceiling to floor.

"Go wild." Kevin said motioning to the room.

"Where should I start?" I asked glancing at the rack closest to me.

Kevin glanced at me and ran his eyes up my body. "You're a size two?" I nodded. "About five four?" I nodded again. "And your bust is what, a B?" I nodded again and my cheeks flushed.

He smiled. "Damn, I'm good." He led me to a rack along the far wall and waved for me to look. "Start here, I better go see if Edward needs to find something to wear as well."

I looked along the wall and found a simple dress in the same color as my sleeping tank-top. It was Edward's blue. The dress was a halter and stopped just above my knees. It was perfect. Hopefully I wouldn't need to wear it for a while since only people who fell into the bottom three couples would need to do solo's but I was going to stash it away until I needed it.

I made my way back to the main room and found Edward waiting for me.

"Don't you need a solo outfit?"

He shook his head. "I have clothes I can wear for a solo."

I had the dress wrapped in a bag and I quickly slipped back into the changing room before he could ask to see it. Leah was on the platform wearing a dress that made me double take. It was black and purple.

"Wow, Leah that dress looks great."

"Thanks." She said smiling at methrough the mirror she was facing. The dress hugged all of the right places and had large holes in the sides so her great figure was visible. It only had one shoulder and a plunging v-neck.

There were black and purple feathers around her hips and she was wearing a pair of three inch purple heels. Max pinned part of the dress and Leah jumped. "Ouch."

"Sorry dear, don't move."

I tucked the dark blue dress into my costume box and returned to find Edward waiting for me. He took my hand and led me out into the hall.

"Now what?" I asked as I glanced at a clock on the wall. It was only four. Dinner would be served at six and the show would start at seven.

"Your flip still needs work." He pointed out.

"Yours isn't perfect yet either." I grumbled trying to look offended. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against his chest.

"I didn't mean to sound mean Bella. It's just a statement of fact. You don't want to go home week one do you?"

I shivered and pulled myself out of his hold grabbing his hand and dragging him along behind me as I slipped back into one of the empty practice rooms. "No, I don't."

By the time six o'clock rolled around, Edward and I were both landing on our feet every time we did the front flip. We had worked on the first two opening sets and working my flip into the first lift. Overall we had the beginning of our dance down.

"That's really coming along Bella." Edward said as he laid down on his back. I nodded and pushed my hair out of my face. We were both breathing hard and I was regretting not having a hair tie so I could get my hair off my neck.

"Let's go get dinner." I suggested, as I offered him my hand and pulled him to his feet.

He nodded and opened the door for me. "Sounds good, I'm starving."

Dinner was fantastic. Chicken and some kind of noodle dish with vegetables. It was like something I would have made at home. My mom liked to think she could cook so it was generally my job to make sure something edible made it to the table. Phil had been helping me with the food since he and my mom got married but his skill seemed to be limited to the grill.

After dinner, I excused myself early so I could tidy up my room a bit before everyone came up. I had just finished shoving all of my clothes back in my dresser and tucking my suitcase under the bed when there was a knock on my door.

"It's open!"

Alice and Rose let themselves in and flopped down on my bed. Emmett, Erik, and Jasper were close behind them and Emmett waved a bag he was holding in the air. "I brought snacks."

"How are you still hungry?" I asked as he unloaded his bag.

"I'm always hungry Bell." Emmett said it like it was something I should have noticed a long time ago. I rolled my eyes and let him make his food.

Emmett's snacks consisted of ingredients to make s'mores in my microwave and Mike's hard lemonade for him, Rose, Ben and Jasper. Alice ran to her room and came back with an extra box of soda for those of us who 'couldn't legally drink' and flipped the TV on.

"Where's Edward?" I asked. Just as the words left my mouth there was another knock on my door.

"He's right there." Rose said as she and Alice made themselves at home on my bed. I opened the door and found Edward standing in the hall with Tanya and Ben.

I waved them all in and then forced myself in-between Alice and Rose on my bed. Emmett made s'mores for everyone and then draped himself across the bed until Alice and I scooted over and made room for him.

Jasper and Edward took the easy way out and sat on the floor in front of the bed and Tanya pulled one of the bar stools along the breakfast counter up so we could all see the screen. Angela was the last to arrive and she sat on a bar stool like Tanya.

The room fell silent as Cat Deeley's face showed up on the screen and she welcomed everyone to the show where we would finally get to see who the judges would pick to be in the top twenty.

We cheered as she vanished and the theme song for the show came on. Emmett sang along with the bass voice and Alice elbowed him when the show came back on.

"Shhh!"

Cat's face came back and there were clips of the dancers working behind her.

"This week our top forty were faced with solos. They could pick any song they wanted in order to show off their skills for our judges. However, two of our dancers faced an accident almost more terrifying than the judge's wrath. Let's see what happened.

I flushed as the show flipped to a shot of Edward and I in the medic's room. We were in our dirty ripped clothes and the wound on my arm hadn't been wrapped yet so I was still splattered with blood. My mom was going to flip.

They showed the clip where Nigel asked what had happened and Edward explained briefly about the almost car crash. I flushed as the others made a few smart comments and I smacked Emmett on the back of his head. There was no need to hit him, but it made me feel better anyway.

The show flipped back to Cat and we watched her talk. "Will this accident cost them their chance to make it to the top twenty? This and even more when we return to 'So You Think You Can Dance'."

The show turned to commercials and my phone started buzzing on the bed side table where it had been for almost two days. I hadn't gotten ahold of my mom but I left her and Summer both long messages trying to convince them that I was alright.

"Damn it." I mumbled under my breath and the others giggled at me as I turned to face the phone.

I grabbed the phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was my mom. Big surprise there! I excused myself knowing she wouldn't calm down until she heard my voice for herself. I stepped into the hall and answered the phone.

"Hi mom."

"Oh Bella! We just saw you on the TV, your arm looked so bad. Are you sure you're ok?"

"It looks worse than it is. I'm fine, really, I promise."

"When Charlie called me I was so panicked. I got the message your doctor left us and then I talked to him a bit, but I couldn't get ahold of you. Summer's here with us right now by the way she says hi and she wants you to call her later."

"Hi Summer. I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner mom. I've been really busy with the show." ...and other things, other people.

I talked to her for a few more minutes convincing her that I was ok and that Edward had gotten to me just in time.

"I really own him my life mom. If he hadn't pushed me out of the way I would have been run down by that van."

"You tell him I said thank you and stay out of the road from now on. We're coming to see you on the show and I want to meet that boy."

"Yes mom. I'll tell him. I promise."

"Tell all your new friends we said hi and good luck. We're all rooting for you dear. Oh, the shows back on. I'll talk to you later ok honey? Have fun and be safe."

"Yes mom, I'll talk to you later. Bye, I love you too."

I hurried back in and jumped over Emmett back to my place on the bed. Cat was showing clips of the different dancers and talking about what the judges were looking for in the top twenty. I leaned forward so my head was next to Edward where he was sitting on the floor in front of the bed and placed my lips at his ear.

"My mom says thank you for saving my life."

"Anytime babe."

I blushed and crawled back to my spot on the bed. We watched as the show moved from clips of the dancers working, to clips of the judges talking, to clips of Cat in the auditorium talking about how the show would work out.

The show moved to clips of the actual solos and everyone got about five seconds of screen time.

"Look there's Alice."

The Alice on the screen was dancing and we clapped as she took a bow. Every time we recognized someone on the show we started talking again until someone reminded us to shut up and then the room would fall silent again.

"There's Emmett."

"Look that's Leah."

There were slightly longer clips for me and Edward as the judges asked us both how we were feeling after the accident. I noticed that all of the contestants who made it to the top got a little more screen time than those who hadn't.

Cat talked for a bit and announced that next we would get to see the judges decide who would make it to the finals and who would have to go home after such a grueling week.

I helped Emmett make more s'mores during the commercial break and everyone fell silent as the show came back on and the judges started talking. My heart was thumping as they talked about who would make it to the top twenty even though I already knew I was in. I was waiting to hear my name on the television.

Nigel's face came on the screen and he talked with Mary. "All of the dancers who make it to the top twenty have to be able to handle anything we throw at them. This show isn't designed to find the best dancer. America will get to pick their favorite but it's up to us as judges to make sure only good dancers get that far."

"All of the dancers we've seen so far have done a great job, but twenty individuals stood out among the rest."

The show flashed to a clip of Mary talking to some of the dancers on stage. She smiled into her mic. "Alice, you little chicky-poo are quickly becoming one of my favorites this season. I love the energy you bring to everything you do and I am very pleased to say that you are the first of this years top twenty."

The screen flashed to a clip of Alice jumping up and down and we cheered as the Alice in my room started jumping with the Alice on TV. After Alice, the show continued to show clips of the judges as they asked person after person to come to the top twenty.

"Ben, every season we have a Broadway dancer in the top twenty. The judges love them and they have all been great dancers. Never before has a dancer who specializes in Broadway won on this show. I have a feeling you might break that streak. Welcome to the finals!"

We cheered again and Angela gave Ben a big hug.

"Good job Ben!" Jake's voice shouted down the hall and we could hear Jane and Leah cheering behind him.

We could hear cheering coming from the seventh floor and from other rooms on the sixth floor as the little pods of dancers watching the show cheered when their names were called. One by one all of the people sitting my room flashed across the screen as they were called into the finals.

"Look at Edward's face." Emmett pointed to the screen and laughed as Edward tried to stay calm after Nigel asked him to come to the finals.

"I can't believe I missed that the first time. You look like you're trying not to implode." He said slapping Edward on the back.

"I'm surprised you just used the word implode right." Edward commented and Emmett smacked him on the back of his head.

"You were to busy sucking face with Rose to notice much of anything." Alice reminded him.

I was probably the only one who caught the look Jasper threw his sister, who was purposely not looking at her brother. The camera switched to a shot of me and Monika and Cat's voice spoke over the judges as they talked with us.

"Will Bella's accident keep her from the finals?"

The screen moved to the judges and Nigel was talking. "Bella, you have shown not only great skill in your area of dance but an ability to adapt. You dance from the heart and it is clear to us that you belong here. We would love it if you joined the top twenty."

I cheered with the others as the Bella on stage started crying and thanked the judges. The other dancers ran back on stage and I watched as the Bella on the screen wrapped her arms around Jake and then the camera moved to a scene where Cat was standing with the top twenty.

"Two pairs of siblings. Two Broadway dancers, and twenty great dancers all in one season. Make sure to tune in next Wednesday to see week one as our dancers learn who they will be partnered with and what styles they will draw from the hat."

Cat held out her arms and all twenty of us crowded around her on the stage. "These are your top twenty America and this is 'So You Think You Can Dance'."

Everyone in my room burst into cheers and we could hear the other dancers yelling from their rooms. The show ended and Alice flipped off the TV.

We talked about the show for awhile and Jake came to visit us from Leah's room. Jane jumped on the bed with us and pushed Emmett off so there was room for Angela to sit with us.

"Bella your bed's turning into a babe fest." Emmett said sourly as he picked himself up and moved to stand with Jasper and Erik.

We giggled and Leah jumped into the center of the bed with the rest of us and we all squeezed together to make room for her. "Now it's a babe fest."

"Couldn't be a babe fest without yagirl." Jane said holding her hand out for Leah to high five.

Tanya was standing next to Edward and she looked like she was trying not to get offended at not being invited to the 'babe fest'. A part of me wanted her to leave but a larger part felt bad for leaving her out. I reached out and grabbed her fingers pulling her towards the bed.

"You gonna to join us Tanya?"

She pulled her fingers out of my hand and shook her head. "No thanks. I'm going to go take a shower."

Tanya spun on her toes and walked away. So much for feeling bad.

"Let's watch a movie." Alice suggested.

A few people excused themselves but most settled onto my floor or draped themselves across my bed. I grabbed my PJ's.

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to take a shower."

Emmett raised an eyebrow at me and grinned evilly. "You sure you trust us enough to take a shower while we're all in your room?"

I nodded and shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly. "Sure, I trust you." I trusted Edward to keep his brother on a short leash and toss him out if he tried to do anything stupid.

"I'll watch him." Edward and Alice promised at the same time flashing me identical smiles. Emmett thought about his chances at getting around both of them and grumbled.

"Party poopers."

Everyone settled down to watch the move Alice had put in and I locked myself in the bathroom. I showered slowly and let the hot water work all of the kinks out of my shoulders. My left wrist hurt from all of the flip practice and my arms were still sore from the road rash. I'd been able to take off the doctor's bandage yesterday but, the gash on my arm was still scabbed and purple. It would probably leave a scar.

I stayed in the shower until the hot water was gone and took my time drying my hair. I pulled on my pajama bottoms and piled my hair on top of my head. I brushed my teeth, regretting the four s'mores Emmett had talked me into and pulled on my tank-top.

Most of the group had cleared out while I was taking a shower. Alice was still lying across the end of my bed and she had her fingers tangled in Jasper's hair as he laid on the floor in front of my bed. Edward was sitting by my pillow and he patted the space next to him so I could sit down.

I slipped under the covers and tucked myself into his side. I was suddenly very tired. Jane was sitting in the chair by the window but she looked like she had fallen asleep awhile ago. Lying on the floor in front of her was Erik who was also asleep.

I didn't know what movie was in and I gave up trying to understand what I had missed after about five minutes. A building exploded and some girl with black hair was trying to find a killer. I didn't care enough to ask what movie it was.

I laid my head on Edward's shoulder and drifted in and out of sleep while I waited for the movie to end. There was a draft coming in from the open window and Edward was very warm.

"Bella? Are you awake?" Someone shook my shoulder gently and I pulled my heavy eyelids back to look up. Edward was looking down at me and he smiled. The lights were off and the only light was coming from the main menu of the movie Alice had put in.

"The movie's over Bella."

I nodded and tried to think of something to say. Nothing came. Why did I care if the movie was over? I was sleepy and he was warm. I snuggled into his side and tucked my head back into his arm stifeling a yawn.

"That's nice."

He chuckled. "Alice fell asleep on the floor."

I pulled my eye lids back again and peeked over the side of my bed. Alice was asleep with her head on Jasper's chest. They were both breathing softly and I didn't feel like waking them. Jane was still asleep on my chair and Erik was gone.

Edward picked Jane up and I used her key to get into her room. He set her on her bed and we left the lights off behind us. We tiptoed back into my room and I tried to talk myself into waking Alice and Jasper.

They looked so comfortable and I was willing to bet Alice would kill me if I woke her. I sat back down on the end of my bed and yawned again.

"Let them stay there." I said dropping an extra blanket on top of them. Jasper had already stolen one of my pillows and Alice looked fine with using him.

I fell to my side and my eyelids dropped again.

"Your exhausted Bella." Edward pointed out.

I nodded into my pillow and scooted over so I could pull the quilt over me. I patted the spot next to me and invited him back under the covers. "You can stay if you want."

"Are you sure?" He asked as he laid down next to me.

I nodded again and tucked my head into his side. He smelled good. "Are you going to take advantage of me while I'm sleeping?" I asked sarcastically with another yawn.

He looked offended. "I would never do that Bella."

I patted his arm and snuggled closer to him. He was so warm and I could tell I was about to fall asleep again.

"I kno- know that." I said yawning in the middle. "I wouldn't have asked you to stay if I didn't trust you Edward."

I felt his lips in my hair and I shivered.

"Goodnight Bella." He whispered.

I tried to say goodnight but it came out kind of mumbled with another yawn in the middle. He started humming as I fell asleep. I didn't know the tune. I would have to ask him about it. It was soft like a lullaby and I soon found myself asleep.

That night, my dreams were filled with the same green eyes I had been seeing all week. This time there was a soft melody playing in the background. I didn't know the song and whenever I tried to focus on it, it would disappear.

* * *

~Darkrose

Let me know what you think. Your reviews really inspire me to update and just adds fuel to the fire that I have for this story. Although I feel kind of bad because I've been neglecting my real book to work on this fan-fic. I'll make it up for it later I really want to work on this story right now.


	16. A Bit of Fun

Yeah I've got over a hundred reviews on this story! I can't believe it. Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading. A story doesn't mean anything unless people read it. Unfortunately, my one hundredth reviewer was anonymous so I don't know who to thank for that.

The finals for the show are over and it was great. I'm so glad they brought the "addiction piece" by: Mia Michaels back, because that was my favorite dance from the whole season and it could only be danced by Kupono. He was so fantastic I cried.

Chapter 16- A Bit of Fun

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POV-Bella

I yawned and rolled over, tucking my face into someone's warm side…There was someone in bed with me? I opened my eyes and found Edward sleeping next to me. His eyes were closed and he was breathing softy.

Now I remembered. Everyone had come over so we could watch the show and then they had put a movie in and a few people had fallen asleep in my room. My cheeks flushed as I watched him roll over and scoot closer to my side. I couldn't believe I had actually asked him to spend the night with me. That was so out of character.

I'd never done anything even half as scandalous as asking a man I hardly knew to spend the night in my bed. I sat up carefully and peeked over the side of my bed. If I was remembering last night corectly there should be two more people in here. Yep, there they were. One point for Bella. Jasper and Alice were still lying on the floor, right where I had left them sleeping last night. Jasper was awake and he locked his confused dark brown eyes on me.

"Bella?" His voice was confused and his eyes kept darting to the small girl asleep on his chest.

"Yes?" I said keeping my voice as low as I could so Alice and Edward wouldn't wake up. It was really cute watching him sleep. His hair was messier than usual and his mouth was open.

"Did I drink last night?" Jasper asked, eyeing the empty Mikes hard lemonade on the floor next to him.

I shook my head glancing at the mess around my room. S'mores garbage and empty cans littered the counter. "I don't think so Jasper. That one was Alice's," I added pointing at the bottle he was eyeing.

"Why am I in your room?" He asked, looking back up at me.

"Don't you remember? You and Alice fell asleep in here last night during the movie. You both looked so comfortable I didn't want to wake you."

He nodded. "I don't really remember the movie. I wasn't really paying attention to it, but I do remember falling asleep now that you bring it up. I just feel kind of awkward. This is terribly inappropriate."

He shot another look down at Alice. Alice had her head on his chest and one of her arms thrown over his stomach. Her spiky black hair was stuck to her face on one side and sticking up on the other. She was breathing softly and I was glad I hadn't woken her. She owed me so big after last night! I was going to use that to my advantage.

I nodded along knowing exactly what he meant by how inappropriate this was. It was probably wrong on a hundred different social levels for the four of us to have spent the night together, but I couldn't get myself to regret asking Edward to stay with me. I hadn't slept that well in a long time. I sniffed at my shirt and smiled to myself. I smelled like him.

"I know exactly what you mean Jasper."

He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. "You're not alone up there are you Bella?" He asked with a small smirk.

I shook my head and grinned down at him. "Nope." There was a sleeping model in my bed.

"Edward?"

I nodded with another impish grin. "Maybe."

"Is anyone else in here?"

I shook my head glancing around the room just to make sure we were in fact alone other than our sleeping partners. Edward had carried Jane back to her room and the others had all cleared out under their own power. "No, it's just the four of us."

"Did anyone else know we all slept over?" He asked shooting the door a look I couldn't quite place. This would be odd to try and explain to the others though so I understood his question.

"I don't think so." I hope not.

He nodded and wrapped his arm over Alice's shoulders. He didn't look like he regretted spending the night either. In fact he looked happier than I had seen him in a week. He always looked like something was on his mind and I had never had the courage to ask him about it.

My relationship with Jasper was very odd. He had confided something in me that he held as a very deep secret about his family and yet at the same time I hardly knew anything about him. 1. He was blonde and 2. He was from Texas. That was about the extent of my Jasper knowledge.

"What time is it Bella?" He asked looking back up at me again.

I glanced at the clock on my bed side table. "It's almost six."

"Should we wake them up?"

I shook my head. "Not yet." I glanced back at Edward and smiled when he shifted again. One of his arms moved out to where I had been sleeping and I felt my heart thump oddly in my chest. He was looking for me in his sleep. That was so cute.

He nodded. "I know what you mean."

I moved slowly back up my bed and tucked myself into his side again. His arm hooked around my waist and he tucked his head into my hair. I could have laid like that all morning. A few minutes later my alarm started beeping.

"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath as Edward stirred next to me. I had forgotten I set the alarm to wake me up in the morning. I could hear Alice moving down on the floor and Jasper wished her a good morning. I was going to kill the inventor of the alarm clock.

Edward pulled me closer and kept his face tucked in my hair. I hit the alarm button and cursed at it again as the clock fell to the floor. I shivered as Edward's lips found my neck and he kissed slowly down to my shoulder. He was awake.

"It's no use getting mad at the alarm Bella. You set it." He whispered against my skin.

"I know."

I felt him smile against my neck and his arms tightened around my waist. "I like waking up like this." He added sniffing at my hair. "You smell good."

I giggled and I heard Alice giggle from the floor as she and Jasper whispered to each other. Edward stiffened and then he sat up glancing over the side of the bed.

"Shit. I forgot we weren't alone."

"Good morning to you too." Alice said, standing up and running her hands through her hair, trying in vain to flatten it.

Jasper sat up and even on the floor his head came up to Alice's waist. He smiled at Edward and then over at me. "Thank you for a wonderful night Bella."

I smiled and nodded at him. "You're welcome back anytime Jasper."

He stretched his shoulders and they popped. "I might take you up on that. Your floor's not very comfortable though," he pointed out as he got to his feet.

"I thought it was wonderful." Alice said smiling at me. I winked at her when Jasper looked away and she giggled again.

"You weren't sleeping on the floor." I reminded her.

She glanced around the room and then her eyes fell to the clock. "I'll help you pick up later if you want Bella. This place is a mess."

I nodded. "Thanks, I'm going to make Emmett come and get his s'mores things later too."

"We had better all get ready for breakfast." Jasper pointed out.

He and Alice said goodbye and slipped out into the deserted hall. I glanced at Edward who was still in bed with me. His hair was messier than usual and the shirt he had slept in was wrinkled. He looked like a sleepy model and I suddenly felt very inadequate next to him.

He glanced at the alarm and then back at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and laid back down, pulling me to his chest as he did.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear your alarm for another five minutes, then go take a shower." He mumbled into my shoulder.

I snuggled into his chest. "I didn't hear any alarm."

He chuckled and kissed another trail across the back of my neck. I could feel the muscles in his chest move against my back and his fingers were trailing across my exposed stomach. A few minutes passed and we stayed like that, just lying together in comfortable silence.

Eventually Edward glanced at the alarm and must have decided it was time to sneak back upstairs. He rolled over so he was hovering above me and kissed my forehead. "Good morning, Bella."

I kissed the underside of his jaw. "Good morning, Edward."

He glanced down at me and then kissed my forehead again, trailing kisses down the side of my face until he reached the edge of my mouth.

"I really don't want to leave," he confessed, watching my face for a reaction to his honest words.

I moved over and kissed him lightly on the lips. The kiss was brief but sweet. "I kind of don't want you to leave."

He glanced at the clock. "We'll be late if I don't go soon."

I nodded and kissed him again. "Go take your shower. I'll see you down at breakfast."

He kissed me again and then trailed a line of kisses down my neck. "I really do love this color on you Bella." He said nudging the strap of my tank-top with his nose.

I sat up and he backed up with me so he was straddled over my lap. "You look really good in black." I confessed with a blush.

He smiled at me and kissed my forehead again. "This isn't helping the "don't want to leave" part," he pointed out as his lips started to trail down the side of my face again. As he reached the corner of my mouth I pushed myself back out of his reach.

He looked confused, but relaxed when I smiled up at him. "You can have another kiss down at breakfast."

"What about keeping this a secret?"

I thought about that for a second. "You can have another kiss in the hall, away from the cameras, on our way to the studio, after breakfast."

He nodded and stood up. "That's incentive to go get ready. I'll see you at breakfast Bella."

He waved goodbye and shut the door quietly behind him. I threw myself back down onto my bed and tried to calm my overheated body down. My heart was racing and it took several deep breathes before I could think straight.

Did I really just spend the night with Edward? I grabbed my phone and sent a text to Summer as fast as I could. She was good with boys. Maybe she had some advice for me.

_I need help ~B_

I rolled over and stuck my nose in the pillow Edward had used. It smelled just like him. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. It was like some kind of spice and honey and something else I couldn't place but absolutely loved. It was just him. My phone buzzed and I glanced down at the text from Summer.

_What kind of help? You're not in a strange man's bed are you? –S_

I rolled my eyes and typed a response. Of course her first response would be related to sex. Seriously, I was Summer's definition of 'frustrated virgin' why else would she assume my problems had anything to do with sex?

_No, but a man was in my bed last night ~B_

I forced myself to get up and started brushing out my hair. My phone buzzed and I glanced down at it.

_Please tell me it was that fine Edward Cullen boy –S_

I finished with my hair and sent her a response. I was impressed that Summer was even up at this hour. She tended to live with the motto that the day started at noon and ended around four in the morning. Either she was up really early or she hadn't gone to bed yet.

_Yeah, it was him. I really like him Summer ~B_

Her response was almost instant.

_Are you naked? –S_

_No! ~B_

Maybe talking to Summer was a bad choice. I grabbed some clean clothes that didn't smell like Edward and got changed. I had a message waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom.

_Then what's the problem? –S_

Had she not read my last few texts? What did she think my problem was? I had a man in my bed all night, we didn't have sex and he still hadn't wanted to leave this morning. And I was developing an unhealthy addiction to his scent. That had to mean something didn't it? I really hadn't wanted him to go. I typed back my reply and tried to keep it as short as I could.

_I asked him to spend the night in my room and he did. He slept with me in the same bed. I really like him a lot and I don't have any idea what to do about it. I don't want to mess this up. I'm no good with boy's Summer! Give me some advice here, I'm desperate. ~B_

I brushed my teeth and made sure I had everything I would need for our morning lesson with Nakul. I tied my hair up into a pony and got a water bottle out of my fridge. While I waited for Summer to respond, I cleaned up my room a bit.

When her text finally came I felt my last hope die.

_I can't help you from here B. I don't know him. You do. You'll just have to do your best. If you got him in your bed though he must like you. Don't do anything stupid and let him know I'll be watching in case he hurts you. I know how to hide a body. Make it sound scary when you tell him that. Trust yourself Bella that's the only advice I can give you. Call me later if you need to talk –S_

Well that was no help. I typed a quick reply and locked my door behind me.

_Wish me luck. ~B  
_

The lounge was fairly empty when I entered. Emmett and Jake were eating at one of the small tables by the door and a few of the other dancers I didn't know were gathered around the food table. I weaved my way around them and grabbed a bagel.

"Good morning everyone." I said casually as I filled a cup with juice.

A girl with long black hair and sharp green eyes held out a magazine to me. "Have you seen the article?"

I glanced down at the page and found myself looking at a picture of us. It was one of the group shots we had taken at the photo shoot. Edward had his arm around my waist and Cat was making a funny face with Emmett and Erik.

"No, I haven't. What's it say?"

She followed me over to the table where Emmett and Jake were sitting and sat down with us. She set the article down and sipped from her coffee.

"It's just about the start of the show and it lists all of our names. I'm Jessica, by the way."

I shook her hand and read over the article. Part of the article talked about this being the first season where two Broadway dancers had made it to the finals. Under that article was a brief paragraph about Angela and Ben. Apparently they had both done a few small shows on Broadway so this wasn't the first time their names were in the papers.

There was another longer reference to the fact that two sets of siblings had made it to the finals. Never before had direct siblings both made it on the show. I was glad to see that the paper didn't bring up the fact that Edward and Emmett were adopted. Next to that paragraph there was a picture of Edward, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper.

Towards the bottom of the page there was a picture of me and Edward in the medic's room and a brief story about our almost car crash.

"Why did they have to mention the crash?" I asked sarcastically, as Emmett took the magazine. He and Jake read it together and Emmett chuckled at me.

"I like this picture of you Bell."

Jake chuckled along and continued the joke. "Yeah Bells this is the first time your clumsiness has made the news."

I practically growled at him. "Keep talking Jake. I know where you sleep at night."

He shivered and pretended to be afraid of me. "You're so scary, Bella. I'm going to have to lock my door tonight."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to my bagel.

"Do you two know each other?" Jessica asked, indicating me and Jake.

Jake nodded. "Sure we do. I've known Bella since I was a fetus. Our parents were friends. We kind of grew up together."

I snorted. "If you count three weeks together over the summer once a year as growing up together."

He nodded. "I do. Our friendship never minded the test of time. Every time you came back to Forks it was like you'd never left."

I nodded and smiled up at him. My friendship with Jake never had never faltered. He was the only real reason I subjected myself to the rain every summer. I loved my dad, really I did, but we didn't have much in common. He spent his days patrolling a small town that got next to no crime and his weekends on the lake. We were both quiet and not big on long conversation.

Jake and I would get together in the morning and hang out down on the reservation he lived on. We use to explore the tide pools down at the beach near his house. One time, we had decided to play hide and seek in the woods behind his house and I got lost for over two hours. Jake and an older boy from the reservation had found me scared and crying only a handful of yards from the path. I never had been good at keeping a sense of direction in the woods.

"Edward mentioned that you use to live in Forks. That's so strange. Forks isn't exactly the biggest town in the world. Not many people know about it. Why'd you stop coming down?" Emmett asked as he stole the last piece of my bagel.

I shook my head and suddenly became very interested in my juice. "It's a long story, Emmett. My dad lives in Forks. My parents got divorced when I was little and I've lived in Phoenix for as long as I can remember."

He didn't press the issue but I could tell Jake was dying to know more about my fight with Charlie. I'd never explained to Jake exactly why I had stopped coming to Forks. Not being able to see him anymore had been the hardest part of the choice.

He didn't get a chance to ask and I was grateful for the change in conversation when Edward sat down at the table with us. He had a bagel and coffee and his hair was still wet from his shower. Jessica passed him the paper and made sure to point out the fact that Edward was the only dancer in all three pictures.

"Edward, this is Jessica. Jessica, this is Edward."

Jessica stopped in the middle of her gossip explanation for a split second to shake his hand before she pointed back to the article and started talking about it again. She reminded me of a brunette Summer. Summer ran the gossip world. She was like the mafia leader of information. She knew things before the people involved knew. It was freaky sometimes.

We finished breakfast and soon it was time for everyone to head upstairs and meet with their choreographers. Edward and I headed upstairs and stopped outside door seven.

"You remember the flip? I think Nakul will be impressed if we can both do them today."

"I remember." I spun around on my toes and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "I also remember I promised you a kiss."

He smiled and kissed me again. "Yes you did."

I opened the door and we both rushed in to the studio. Nakul was waiting with Roger and our song was playing over the speakers. I suddenly had the urge to show Nakul that I was capable of landing on my feet.

I took a few steps forward and danced my way into the flip Nakul had shown us. I kicked my legs over my head and remembered the way Edward had showed me to keep my balance when I landed. My feet touched the ground and I didn't fall over.

Edward took a few faster steps forward and fell into the flip as well. He landed just a few inches away from me and I couldn't hold back the happy dance. I could do the flip, I could do the flip, without falling on my face.

Nakul clapped and joined me in my happy dance as Roger circled around us with his camera.

"You guys really worked on that, I'm impressed. Getting that out of the way will make this dance come together that much faster."

Nakul had us run through the sets we had learned last night and then showed me how to work the flip into my routine. I ran through the belly dancing set and blocked Edward's path. He jumped away from me and I beckoned him to come dance with me.

"Look away from her Edward. You're trying to resist her." Nakul coached from the sidelines as we danced. Edward turned away from me so I moved in front of him again.

"Ok Bella. Right here's the flip, go."

I double stepped and flipped. My flip moved me too far forward and Edward had to jump to get out of the way so I wouldn't kick him in the face. I lost my balance and fell over. Somehow during the mix we both landed on the floor.

I glanced to my left and found Edward lying on the ground next to me.

"Did I hit you?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Good."

I started laughing and he joined in. We ran the set a few more times and eventually I figured out how to do the flip without getting too close to Edward. Nakul kept us working until the opening was smooth.

"Ok Edward, as soon as she hits the ground lift her into the vertical lift."

My feet hit the ground and Edward's hands grabbed my waist. I bent my knees and helped him get me into the air. At the height of the lift I kicked my legs out above my head in a V kick.

Edward set me back down and we didn't know what to do next. Nakul stepped in and started coaching us in the first partner set.

"Bella, once you're on the ground turn around." Edward placed one hand on my hip and took my hand with the other.

"Bella put your hand on his shoulder."

He showed us the steps and we started dancing together. Nakul went over the whole set showing us the counts and having us listen to the music.

"1, 2, step left, 3, 4, dip, 5, 6. Edward connect your lines."

"Bella, are you pointing your toes? Why are you both wearing shoes?"

I glanced down at my shoes. I always wore shoes to practice?

"You're going to be dancing barefoot on stage you need to learn the dance barefoot, shoes off."

We both tossed our shoes in the corner and started the partner set from the beginning. This kind of dancing was very different from anything else I had ever done but I found myself having a great time. Nakul kept cracking jokes and Edward never got mad when I stepped on his toes.

"After the partner set we're going to do a back roll."

Nakul showed Edward how in the dance he was going to spin me forward and then fall to his knees. I would draw the attention of the dance to myself while he got down and then roll over him. I spun on my toes and rolled over Edward.

"Edward, now you jump to your feet and Bella I want you to land on your knees."

We continued running the dance all morning. Nakul explained a little about the music we were dancing to. The song was called Chaiyya Chaiyya and it was a song from a Bollywood musical called Bombay Dreams. Apparently it was a song telling the listeners, as well as the main character, to let herself fall in love.

The song had a lot of feeling to it and I wished I could understand the words. By the time lunch rolled around my heels were sore and we were both masters of the one handed aerial. The song Nakul had us dancing to was a two minute remix of the original song which actually lasted almost seven minutes.

"After lunch, I think we'll start working on doing the aerials with no hands. How do you both feel about that?"

He was kidding right?

"Fine."

"I'm good."

We were such liars.

Edward and I made it down to lunch at the same time Alice and Jane were coming out of the lounge. Alice grabbed my arm and stopped us in the hall.

"Don't go in there."

I raised and eyebrow at her as she continued to pull us backwards down the hall. She smiled back at me. "Trust me, we're just having a little fun with Emmett."

"Oh boy," Edward sighed. "You really don't want to start a prank war with Emmett. You will lose."

Alice stopped midstep and turned on him.

"I don't lose."

"Emmett's the prank king." Edward warned.

"Well, he's about to lose his crown." Alice was standing on her toes to try and look Edward in the eye but she was still too short.

"Emmett always gets even." Edward added. "It's not too late to stop whatever you rigged up."

"It can't be unrigged from this side of the door."

"Who's in there helping you?"

She smiled, and Edward rolled his eyes. "You conned Jasper into helping you."

She nodded. "And his partner, Victoria."

We could hear someone coming down the stairs and I froze.

"Hide." Alice whispered as she and Jane ducked in a corner behind the door to the stairs. Edward grabbed my arm and pulled me into the closest studio. We shut the door so only a thin crack of light was left, giving us a view of the hall.

The door to the stairs opened. Emmett and Leah appeared in the hall and we held our breath as they walked towards the door to the lounge. Emmett grabbed the handle and pulled it open so Leah could walk in ahead of him.

"No, Leah move!" Alice jumped into the hall to try and stop her but, it was too late.

Leah stepped in front of Emmett and there was a "whoosh" sound followed by a "splat'. Leah's neck and chest were covered in what looked like Pie. Emmett had managed to avoid most of the blast but he was still splattered with the stuff.

Leah spun around slowly and her eye narrowed when she caught sight of Alice and Jane. I could see Jasper and Victoria in the lounge over Leah's shoulder. They were armed with cans of whipped cream. They had realized that the wrong person got hit and they both dropped their whipped weapons.

Victoria was the girl with the long red hair that Summer hadn't liked. She glanced sidewise at Jasper and he nodded. They silently lowered themselves into the nearest table and tried to act natural. Leah still had her eyes locked on Alice and neither her nor Emmett had noticed the almost second wave of Alice's prank.

"Alice?" Leah asked slowly, her voice practically dripping with venom. "What is this?"

Alice stepped back and Leah mirrored her move.

"It was meant for Emmett. I swear Leah, we didn't mean to hit you."

Jane jumped a step away from Alice and gave her a funny look. "Don't drag me into this." Jane turned around and vanished up the stairs, leaving Alice alone in the hall.

Edward was standing over me as I knelt in the doorway so we could both see and I could feel him shaking with laughter. Emmett joined Leah and they took another step towards Alice. Emmett used his finger to whip some of the pie off Leah's neck and stuck it in his mouth.

"You were going to hit me with a lemon meringue pie?"

She nodded and took another step away from them. "I didn't expect you to open the door for Leah. It was just a prank, a bit of fun."

Leah glanced up at Emmett and he smiled at her. When he looked back at Alice they were both wearing identical evil grins.

"You tried to prank me?" Emmett asked.

Edward leaned down and put his lips to my ear. "I warned her."

Alice's demeanor changed as she picked up on the challenge Emmett was throwing down. "Yes, I did try to prank you. It would seem I managed to hit two birds with one pie."

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into midget." Emmett warned.

Alice growled at him. "Don't call me that."

Emmett smiled as he and Leah took another step towards Alice. "I'm the one wearing pie, I'll call you whatever I want."

Alice nodded, shrugging her small shoulders. "I'll let it slide this once, but not again."

"Let the prank war begin," Emmett said as he put his hand on Leah's shoulder. "And don't think Jasper's getting out of this. I know he was working with you. A pie launcher like that would have needed someone on the inside to set it up."

Alice nodded. "I get Jasper and Jane on my team."

"We want Jake on our team with us." Leah said before Emmett could open his mouth. He glanced down at her and they seemed to communicate silently.

Emmett looked up at Alice. "My team's Leah and Jake."

Alice nodded. "Let the games begin."

Leah stepped forward and held up her hand. "Rules, nothing permanent. We are all going to be on TV so we need to be able to hide any physical sign of this war."

Alice nodded. "And nothing in the choreographer's rooms. We need to work on our dancing before anything else. The show always comes first."

Emmett nodded. "Deal." He held out his hand for Alice to shake.

Alice took a step forward and held out her hand for Emmett. They shook briefly and then Emmett tightened his grip on Alice and pulled her in for a group hug. Emmett pinned Alice against Leah and pie splattered everywhere.

"Damn you, Emmett!" Alice cursed and I could see Jasper and Victoria laughing inside the lounge.

"You never said we had to play fair." Emmett said smugly.

Emmett and Leah let go of Alice and she stuck her chin out, trying to retain some of her dignity. Emmett and Alice stared each other down for a while then they all headed for the stairs. They were going to have to speed shower if they wanted time to eat before their choreographers would be waiting for them.

Once the door was closed behind them, Edward opened the door and we walked into the lounge. Jasper and Victoria were both bent over the table trying to catch their breath while they laughed. Jasper glanced up at us and held up a small black video camera. They had the whole thing on tape. Perfect.

"If you don't give that to the show producers, I'll help Emmett prank you." Edward said as we grabbed sandwiches and sat down with them.

He nodded. "We already talked with them. They think it's hilarious as long as it won't affect our dancing."

"I'm not getting involved." I said as I took a bite out of my sandwich. Yum, it was turkey. No way I was going to get involved in prank wars right now. I had enough to freak out about right now. I was on the show! I was sitting next to the best looking boy I had ever seen and we made out on a regular basis, as long as no cameras were around. My life was good right now. No pranks for me.

Edward nodded along with me. "I've tried too many times to prank Emmett. It never works. I'm not going there again."

Jasper opened his mouth to argue and I held up my finger to stop him. "We are a neutral country, Jasper. We will not help or hinder either side, but, we are not getting involved."

"We're like Switzerland." Edward added.

* * *

~Darkrose

I hope everyone saw the finale of the show last night. It was great! I'm so glad they're doing another one this fall! Wish my girl Dezaray luck because she's auditioning. I love you girl! Go get them!!

A special thank you to the most awesomeness "Priya" for the idea of this song "Chaiyya Chaiyya." I'll put more information up about it when it's time for Edward and Bella to actually dance to it.


	17. Tyce Diorio

This chapter was written to "Summer Nights" from Grease. It's sung by John Travolta (Danny) and Olivia Newton John (Sandy) on their first day back at high school. I've been trying to think of a good song to do as a group number and when I thought of this one, it was really too good to pass up. A lot of the songs from this show could be good group numbers.

I'm a big fan of Broadway and Grease is one of the classics. I grew up with this movie. My love of Broadway shows is hereditary; I got it from my mom's DNA at birth. If you haven't seen it, go watch it! Immediately!

Chapter 17- Tyce Diorio

* * *

POV- Bella

"Good morning."

I still had my eyes closed and as far as I knew I hadn't moved yet. How did he know I was awake? I could pretend to be asleep. Edward was lying next to me, his face in my hair and I could feel his lips move against my shoulder as he spoke.

"How did you know I was awake?"

"You're breathing changes."

I smiled to myself and rolled over so I was face to face with my favorite pair of green eyes. "Good morning, Edward."

This was the third night Edward had slept in my room. We had spent the whole weekend bending over backwards for Nakul. Our dance was really starting to come along. It was Monday and in about sixty hours we would be performing live for thousands of people.

He kissed my forehead and sat up, glancing over at the clock.

"You slept longer today. Its 6:30."

I pulled the sheet back up over my head and curled against his leg. "I was having a good dream."

He chuckled and I peeked through a crack in the sheets up at him. "What?"

"What was your dream about?" He asked.

I flushed and pulled the sheet back over my head. He had been the center of my dreams since I got to Las Vegas and last night had been no different. I just hadn't told him that yet. "You." I mumbled into my hands hoping he just might not hear.

He pulled the sheet away from my face and kissed my forehead. I guess he heard me. He must have ears like a bat. "Don't be embarrassed, I love watching you sleep."

"How long have you been awake?"

He shrugged. "Half an hour." He paused for a second and then smiled down at me. The next words out of his mouth made my blood run cold. "Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"

…oh shit…

"What did you hear?!?" I demanded, sitting up so fast my pillow fell off the bed. I twisted around so I could face him, getting myself tangled into the sheets. I was spiraling into panic mode. Who knew what kind of embarrassing things I could have said in my sleep?

He held up his hands in surrender and tried not to chuckle at my expression. This was so not funny. "Nothing bad, I promise."

I had been known on occasion (every night) to talk in my sleep. Renee and Summer had both had their fun over the years teasing me about the things I said while I was dreaming. I hadn't thought about the possibility of Edward hearing anything and now that I was, I was terrified. My dreams hadn't been particularly dirty or anything, but still.

"What did I say?" I pressed trying to sound more assertive than I really was. He wasn't getting out of this one no matter what he did.

He smiled and brushed his fingers across my red cheek. I did my best not to lose myself in his eyes and instead focused my look on his nose. He had a perfect nose, but it wasn't nearly as hypnotizing as his eyes.

"You said something about the sun, your ankle hurts and-" He lifted my chin so I had to look at him. "And you said my name, a couple of times." He added the last part a bit smugly.

I hadn't relaxed and he seemed to think I was mad at him. I wasn't mad at him. I was embarrassed at myself. I should be able to control my mouth.

"Bella dear?" He pressed when I didn't say anything. I was still trying to calm myself down. I hadn't said anything bad. It could have been worse.

He pressed on when I still didn't say anything. "Please, don't be embarrassed. I dreamt about you last night as well."

I felt a small smile tug on my lips and I rested my head in his hand. At least I hadn't said anything more defined. I was also elated that he had dreamt about me. I bet he had never dreamt about Tanya before.

"Really?"

He nodded. "Would I lie to you?"

"No."

His kissed my forehead and then stood up. "We had better both get ready for the day. Nakul's going to kick our butts extra hard today. We only have two days to perfect our dance."

"We'll be ready."

I pressed my lips to his and walked him to the door. I checked the hallway and gave him the all clear. Alice had caught him leaving Saturday morning and I had sworn her to secrecy about our sleepovers. He hadn't spent the night on Sunday just so no one else would get suspicious, but our new system was that I would check the hall first. Better safe than sorry.

She had agreed as long as we kept her growing relationship with Jasper a secret from not only the cameras, but the other dancers. We had agreed to keep her secret and then she had tried to press us into joining her side in the prank war.

Edward waved as he disappeared up the stairs and I locked my door behind him. I hurried into the bathroom and jumped into the shower. Ten minutes later I was shampooed, shaved and scrubbed to within an inch of my life.

I wrapped myself in a towel and started hunting for clothes. I was going to have to do my laundry again. The seventh floor had a laundry room that the dancers could use. Someone knocked on my door and I peeked through the peep hole out into the hall.

Alice was standing in the hall looking disgruntled. I opened the door keeping myself hidden behind it and waved her in.

"What's up Alice?"

She sat on the end of my bed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."

I moved around the room and gathered up some clean clothes. Alice just sat on the bed. She looked like she was thinking about something.

"Alice?" I pulled a tank-top on and sat down next to her. She glanced up at me and shrugged her small shoulders.

"I don't know Bella." She shook her head. "There's something about Jasper I just don't understand. There's something he's not telling me. I don't want to push him into talking to me but I don't know why he doesn't trust me."

She glanced up at me and I busied myself with finding some shoes. I had a feeling she was talking about the same thing Jasper had talked to me about. Jasper and I hadn't brought up the conversation I had overheard at the bar since he had asked me to be there for Rosalie. I still didn't understand what I was supposed to be there for but I had always made sure Rosalie knew she could come to my room.

Alice watched me curiously as I dug under my bed and pulled out a pair of dance flats. It really wouldn't matter what shoes I wore, Nakul hadn't let us wear shoes in rehearsal since the second day of work. I pulled my shoes on and tried to think of something to say to Alice.

I had promised Jasper I wouldn't tell anyone about our conversation and I really didn't want to lie to Alice. I didn't have to lie to Alice, I just couldn't tell her what I knew. I really didn't know that much.

"I'm sure he trusts you Alice. Maybe he's just not ready to talk about it."

"What could be that big?" She asked running her hands through her hair.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure." I really wasn't sure so that wasn't a lie. Alice groaned in frustration and laid back on my bed.

"Did Edward spend the night again?" She asked, noting that both sides of my bed were messy. For all she knew I just moved around a lot in my sleep, but this was Alice. Alice always "just knew" everything.

I blushed and gave her a smirk. "Yeah."

"How many times has he slept here?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Counting the first night when you all stayed over, three."

"I thought it would be higher than that," Alice admitted, getting up and taking the brush I was using to brush my hair from me. Her hands replaced mine and she started brushing my hair for me.

"Why's that?" I asked trying to keep the conversation from going back to Jasper now that she was distracted. I would do my best to keep my promise to Jasper but if Alice pinned me, I wasn't sure I could keep it from her.

"You're practically attached at the hip." Alice said it like it was the most obvious thing waving my brush in the air for emphasis. "He never leaves your side."

I rolled my eyes and Alice tugged at my hair showing she wasn't amused by my antics. She spent her time rigging doors to hit Emmett in the face with pie but me rolling my eyes wasn't funny. Sure, that made perfect sense. Maybe in Alice land.

"Alice, we're partners. We have to be together during practice. That takes up most of our time." I reminded her.

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. Jane and I haven't had a free moment to set up our next prank in almost two days. Emmett and Leah are going to get the jump on us."

I took the brush back and continued working the knots out of my hair. "I'm sure they have been just as busy as the rest of us. What have you got planned this time?" I asked the last part, almost afraid to know the answer.

She shook her head and put her hands on her tiny hips. "Will you join my team?" She asked for about the hundredth time.

"No." I said pulling harder than I meant to on my own hair. Ow, I winced.

"Then I can't tell you. I can't risk Emmett finding out and it's going to be good." Alice said as she opened my door. "Are you coming?"

I finished my hair and tossed it into a pony tail. "I wouldn't tell Emmett. I'm neutral. And yeah, I'm coming."

"You would tell Edward and I have a feeling blood runs thicker than water for those two. They might not play it up in front of the rest of us but I think they're pretty close."

I followed Alice into the hall and we walked together down to Breakfast. As we approached the door to the lounge, I let Alice walk ahead of me. The prank war was still in its opening phases. From what Edward had told me of Emmett's battle plan, he, Jake and Leah were trying to move slow. Trying to learn how good Alice was and what kind of risk she was willing to take on pranks. Edward had said they were saving the big guns for later.

Alice opened the door and nothing exploded on us so it seemed Emmett hadn't retaliated yet. At least they were being careful. I followed her in and we picked up our food before sitting down with Leah and Edward.

"Good morning, girls." Edward said cheerfully flashing me a grin. His hair was still wet from his morning shower and it was plastered to his forehead. The color had darkened with the water and more of the red was showing through in the light coming from the window.

"Morning Edward." Alice said flashing him a brilliant smile. I shook myself out of my daze and nodded along with Alice's greeting. Technically, I had already said good morning to Edward.

We sat down and I poured some milk into my Cheerios. I loved Cheerios.

"Are you ready to meet Nakul this morning?" Edward asked as he ate from his own bowl of Cheerios. I nodded.

"Yep. We pretty much have that dance down."

He nodded. "It could still use a lot of cleaning."

"It could use months of cleaning." I agreed. "But, for a week I think we've done an amazing job so far."

Conversation moved to Alice and how she and Mike were working out. According to Alice he was turning out better than she had hoped with the horror stories Angela and I had told her. Apparently, Mike was a contemporary dancer to begin with and he had actually helped Alice with some of the moves Mia Michaels was teaching them.

Leah and Emmett were working out well. They made it a sport to argue with each other and their overly competitive natures were driving them both to push harder. Victoria joined us with another boy she introduced as James.

James had long, dirty blond hair and hard blue eyes. His hair was almost as long as Jake's and it was tied in a pony behind his neck. He was built more muscular than Edward but wouldn't have stood a chance against Emmett.

Slowly the lounge filled up and eventually, Alice left us to sit with Jasper and Jane took her seat. As it neared the time for the dancers to go meet up with their choreographers, Cat showed up with a camera man. I caught a glimpse of a man over her shoulder and I tugged on Edward's sleeve.

"Behind her, that's Tyce Diorio."

Edward nodded. "Yes it is. He judged the last round of callbacks. I wonder what he's doing here."

Cat waved her hand and conversation died as all eyes turned on her.

"Good morning top twenty. I am bringing you a special treat today." She waved Tyce forward and flashed a brilliant smile around the room. "I believe you will all recognize Tyce Diorio. He was one of our guest judges during the call backs and for those of you who auditioned in Austin. Best known for his Broadway routines, Tyce is here for a special announcement."

She pushed Tyce forward a step and he clapped his hands in front of him. "I am here to teach you your first group dance. The top twenty will be dancing to a song from one of my favorite Broadway shows."

Angela and Ben cheered and the rest of the room broke into whispers. I had been wondering if we were going to get a group dance for the top twenty. Getting the chance to work with Tyce was a huge honor.

Tyce held up his hands and the whispering died. "Once you're all done eating we will meet down in studio two." He nodded and then left the room with Cat and the camera man in tow. Breakfast finished quickly after Tyce's announcement and I was swept along with the others down into the large studio on the first floor.

Tyce was waiting for us and a camera man was crowding himself into the corner, trying to film us without getting in the way. Tyce called everyone forward and then asked us to split into two groups.

"I want the boys on the right and the girls on the left."

We split into two and I took my spot between Angela and Alice. Angela was practically shaking with joy and Alice kept throwing skeptical glances around the room. I'd never done Broadway before but if it meant I got the chance to work with Tyce I would do practically anything.

Tyce smiled and pushed a button on the speaker.

_Summer lovin' had me a blast  
Summer lovin' happened so fast  
I met a girl crazy for me  
Met a boy cute as can be  
Summer days driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights  
Uh Well-a well-a well-a huh_

It was Grease! A wave of realization spread around the room and a few of the dancers started dancing as we listened to the song. Once it was over Tyce called everyone back to attention and addressed the group.

"Apparently you all know this song?"

There were mumbled yes's. As it turned out all twenty of the dancers knew the song and had seen the movie.

Tyce continued. "Good, the song goes back and forth between the girls singing and the boys singing. We are going to do the same only with dancing." He pointed over to where I was standing with the other girls. "Ladies you are all now honorary pink ladies." He moved over to the boys and tossed one of his arms over Emmett's shoulders. "Boys, you are now all T-birds."

More cheering rose around the room.

Tyce clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Lets get started why don't we?"

He went back and forth teaching us the moves to the dance. Whenever the boys in the song were singing that was when the boys in our group would dance. The girls danced along with Sandy as she sang about her summer of love.

"Now I want you all to face the center of the stage."

I spun with the other girls and glanced across the room to where the boys were standing opposite us. After the first string of dance moves were over we had ended in the same ending pose.

"Look across the room and find the boy or the girl directly across from you."

I glanced across the room. I was in the second row, third girl from the center. My opposite was…Jake!

He realized it at the same time as I did and waved at me.

"Ok, both sides are going to dance into the center and you're going to line up with the person opposite you, ok?"

We nodded and Tyce had us walk into the center and practice lining up with our opposite.

"Hi Jake." "Hi Bells."

Tyce had us walk back to our opposite side and showed us the moves we would use to get to the middle. The boys were going to remain facing forwards and mimic one of the most recognizable moves from Summer Nights in the movie. It was the sideways jump move the T-birds did on the bleachers while Danny was talking about the babe he had met at the beach.

I giggled along with the other girls as we watched them try it out. It was just too funny to watch them. Emmett seemed to be having the most fun with it and Ben looked like he was having a field day. He was like a fish in water. The boy was born to do Broadway-that was the only way to explain it.

Tyce had purposely worked it out so that Ben and Angela were both in front, after he learned that they were both Broadway dancers. He had told us that he had asked to be a judge in the callbacks so he could get a feel for us as dancers before choreographing for us and he was looking forward to working with all of us in what he thought was going to be the strongest season yet.

"Girls, while the boys are doing that you are going to face the middle," Tyce directed, bringing me out of my thoughts and back into the studio.

We followed along as he lined up with the rest of us and turned to face the middle. He folded his hands behind his back and skipped forward. Two sashays on the left foot, one on the right, another one on the left, then two on the right.

He ran the move with us a few tims and the boys took their turn mocking us. All was fair, I guess. We had made fun of them.

"This will look better once you're all in costume." Tyce said as he ordered both groups back to their sides so we could run the partnering move together.

"The boys are all going to be in T-bird jackets and I've got pink skirts for the girls. You'll look just like you walked off the set of Grease."

Once we had the transition move down, Tyce started instructing groups in the partner dance. The groups in rows one and three were going to do one dance while groups in rows two and four would do another one.

Tyce let rows two and four sit down so he could work with the others. I grabbed my water bottle off the floor and sat with Jake against the wall as the others worked. Edward was paired with Jessica and Alice had managed to get paired with Erik.

"How do you think you and Edward are going to do this Wednesday?" Jake asked as he took a long pull from his water bottle and wiped his forehead.

I shrugged. "The dance will be as good as any dance could be after a week. I'm just worried America won't like the Bollywood."

"It's different, that's for sure. But there's a lot of energy in it and fast moves. I think you'll be ok."

Why did everyone keep telling me I would be ok? Did the judges really make that big a deal out of me? I didn't think they had. I wasn't anything special. I could go home just as easily as Jake or Alice or any of the others.

"Is your mom coming to the show?" Jake asked when I didn't respond.

I shrugged. "If Fox is paying to bring our families out here, then yeah, she'll probably come. Sumer will probably tag along too."

"That's your friend from Phoenix right?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"She your best friend?" He pressed and I could tell he was trying to find out where he stood on my Summer scale.

I elbowed him in the side. "I haven't known her as long as I've known you Jake. However, she's probably the only person in this world who knows me better than you, maybe."

He chuckled. "I know you better than your own shadow Bells."

I nodded. It was true. Jake had always known me better than anyone else did. Better than Charlie knew me. Probably better than my mom did. Renee and I were best friends but, I had always been more of the "mom" in our relationship. I kept her from hurting herself and tried to help her with her crazy projects. I reminded her to turn off the water after she washed the dishes and I always made sure the laundry got done.

"What about Billy? Is he coming down?"

Jake shrugged. "Probably not, with the chair it's hard for him to leave the reservation. That and he still isn't the most thrilled about me being a dancer. It's gotten better and he was really proud when I made the show, but I can tell it's still not his favorite thing."

"Too bad." I said honestly, trying to show Jake I supported him. "It bothers me when parents try to interfere with their children. There's nothing wrong with dancing Jake. Billy should be proud of you. You're probably one of the strongest dancers here and most of these dancers have been dancing since they were in diapers."

He chuckled. "And we were making mud pies." He said finishing my thought. "I know Bella. I'm not going to let my dad chase me away from dancing. I just know it's not what he wanted for me. He's never really tried to stop me. When did your dancing start?" He asked.

"I was seven when Renee had me take ballet."

His soft chuckled broke into an all out laugh. "You? In ballet?"

I punched him in the shoulder. "I thought you know about that?"

"I probably did or you told me about it at some point. But thinking of you in a fluffy pink tutu is just a really funny thought. I can't see you as a ballet dancer."

"Neither could I. I was always in the back. After Ballet, I tried tap and jazz and different kinds of dancing. I found salsa classes and kind of fell in love with the style. From there I moved to more Latin dancing and then found my style in Samba."

"And your second love of Hip-Hop." He added.

"Right." I said nodding and taking another swig of my water.

Tyce called the rest of us back onto the floor and let the first group sit down for a second. Jake pulled me to my feet and we got back to work.

Tyce kept us busy all morning. By lunch we had the choreography down. Tyce wasn't happy with our emotion and kept trying to push the dancers to have more fun with the moves. Dancing with Jake was almost as easy as dancing with Edward. I had trusted him completely since I was three years old and we both knew I would beat him to a pulp if he dropped me on one of the lifts.

Billy wouldn't mind if I decked him. I would probably break my hand if I tried, but no one would try and stop me.

Lunch was a buzz of conversation and then it was off to work with our choreographers. Edward and I were set to meet Max in the costume shop at six so we could be outfitted for the group piece and until then we were at Nakul's mercy.

Nakul ran us hard. We already knew the moves so he wasn't accepting mistakes of any kind. Before starting our work he had us change into our costumes so we could get used to dancing in them and I found I was having more trouble doing the aerial in the heavy pants.

I had our song memorized even though I didn't speak the language because we had heard it so many times and I was willing to bet I could have done the dance with my eyes closed as long as Edward's eye were open. We were into the first set of partner moves, coming up on the back roll.

After Edward's aerial he would fall to his knees. I had to trust he would get behind me because I had my back to him. I had to spin around and roll myself over his back. The beads on both of our pants hurt in the brief moments when they got pinned between our backs but the pain was minimal compared to how badly my feet hurt.

My whole body was one big sore muscle. I'd always thought I was in great shape but this show was slowly running me ragged. On the one hand I was sore but on the other hand our dance was really coming along great. I got a rush of pride at every comment Nakul gave me and wanting to make him happy pushed me to work harder.

This was his dance. He was using Edward and I to show it to the world. We had to do a good job with it. If the dance was bad we would wind up in the bottom three couples and it would hurt Nakul's reputation as a choreographer.

I found myself worrying more about making him proud than the judges. The judges wouldn't know how the dance was supposed to go, and as long as any mistakes we made were made with confidence they would have no idea. Nakul had created this dance out of nothing. A single foot out of place and he would spot it. He was certainly spotting them now.

"Bella, we've all ready gone over that move. You can't afford to make mistakes now."

I jumped and fixed the angle of my foot. After another hour he let us go so we wouldn't be late for our fitting.

"I'll see you both tomorrow for the dress rehearsal."

"Dress rehearsal?" I asked pulling my shirt back on and pouring water over my head.

He nodded. "Yep. Everyone's going to the stage tomorrow so you can practice changing between your costumes and getting into place between commercial breaks. It will also be the only time you get to practice your dance on that stage with the lights I've got set up."

We nodded along. I should have guessed we would get a dress rehearsal at the live stage. That would make the most sense. Max was waiting for us when we arrived and I found Alice already dressed in the changing room when she pushed me up on the platform.

"Hi Bella, what do you think?"

She spun in a circle and let me see the whole thing. She looked just like a pink lady: A long pink skirt with ruffles on the ends, her white top was form fitting but modest, she was wearing white shoes that almost looked like tennis shoes and there was a white band in her hair.

"It looks great." I said. That was only a half lie. She did look good. I had a feeling Alice could never look bad, but that outfit did not fit the current times.

She shrugged. "It would look better if there was a poodle on my skirt." She said as she started stripping and tucking the outfit away in her box. Under the costume was a white leotard and a white slip skirt. We would need the leotards with some of the lifts.

Max ordered me to strip again and soon she had me in my own pink lady outfit. My skirt was slightly shorter than Alice's and a darker shade of pink. My shirt wasn't as form fitting and it had a collar the same color as the skirt.

Max tried a few different things in my hair before deciding that I would get my hair tied back in a ponytail. She marked my hair needs on a sheet for Jason and led me out so I could see Edward in his costume.

Edward was already waiting for me with Jason. His outfit hadn't needed as much pinning. He had a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt that fit him like a glove. Over the shirt was a jacket that said T-bird on the back. He had on black boots and Jason showed me how his hair would get gelled back. It was the "finishing touch to the bad boy T-bird look" as Jason had called it.

He looked very handsome and when he laughed at my skirt I punched him in the arm. "I was going to say you looked great but, John Travolta pulled that look off better."

He chuckled at me. "Really Bella, have you looked in a mirror?"

I nodded. "Yes I have. I look just like I came from the movie."

"That's my point." He said. "You look great, you always do. But we look like we should be in the past. I find it humorous."

I nodded along and soon we were both chuckling at my poofy pink skirt and the tennis shoe wanna-be's. The shoes really were ugly but they were flexible and wouldn't get in the way of my dancing.

We got changed and once Max was satisfied with how I had put away both of my costumes she let us head down to dinner. The hallway was clear as we approached the door but I had my eye out for any of the prank soldiers.

We stopped outside the door and I shot Edward a glance. "Think it's safe?"

He nodded. "I think so. Alice and Emmett have one thing in common. They would want to see their prank when it went off. They know we're not playing their game. If we were about to walk into a trap they would stop us…I hope they would stop us."

"Agreed."

I swung the door open and stepped into the lounge. Everything looked clear for about a second and then there was a deep thump as something fell and hit me on the back. Whatever had landed on me exploded with a woof and white powder blew everywhere.

The white smoke got in my eyes and was plastered to my hair. I choked and I could hear Edward cursing behind me. It took a moment for the dust to clear enough for me to see and when I could see I didn't like what I saw.

Emmett and Leah were a few yards from me holding a small black camera. They looked stunned, clearly we were not the intended targets. Edward was at my side. The missile had hit me but most of the explosion had blown back on him.

We were both covered from our heads to our toes in white powder. His reddish hair was white and he was as stunned as I was. I was almost scared to ask what we were covered in. Edward regained his voice before I did.

"Emmett!-" His yell was cut off as he inhaled some of the white dust and started coughing. His movements blew more of the dust around and I started coughing along with him. My eyes stung and I had white powder down my shirt. Have you ever had an unknown white powder in your bra? It's not very much fun.

I tried brushing some of the powder off him and he started brushing it out of my hair. I shook my head and powder flew everywhere. I couldn't see more than a foot in front of me but I could hear Emmett when he started talking.

"Edward, what are you doing here? That flour sack was for Alice. you ruined our trap!"

"What the Hell, Emmett? We're covered in flour!"

A high pitched laughter came from behind us and I turned with Edward to find Alice standing in the hall outside the lounge with Jasper and Jane. The rest of the dancers seemed to already be in the lounge eating and soon everyone was laughing with Alice.

I shook my head again and more powder blew around us.

"Emmett, you're a dead man!" I cursed as I advanced on him. An arm snaked around my waist and stopped me in my tracks.

"Don't Bella. I want the honors of killing him myself." Edward said as he pulled me back against his chest locking my arms to my side. More powder floated in the air around us from our movements as it fell off our clothes and out of our hair.

"No." I growled as I tried to get free from Edward. "He's mine."

"You had better go shower first Bells. You've got something in your hair." Jake said as he took the camera from Emmett and moved in for a close up.

"You were in on this!?!" I yelled at him bewildered. What had we done to deserve this? Jake glanced at me from behind the camera, a real look of apology on his face.

"I'm sorry Bella, you weren't the intended victim. I promise."

I tried to get mad. I tried to yell at him I wanted to scream and curse at him. Nothing happened, I couldn't do it. He looked honestly sorry about what had happened and I had never been able to get mad at Jake. I spun on my toes breaking free of Edward's hold and stormed from the room.

Edward followed along behind me and I made sure to shake my hair again as I passed Alice and her group of pranksters so some of the flour would get on their clothes . They were going down. They were all going down.

Edward didn't speak until we were in the stairwell and up by the door to the third floor. There was a trail of powder behind us and I felt sorry for whoever had to clean it up because I sure as hell wasn't going to.

"Bella, what was that? You're just going to walk away now? I though you wanted to kill him?"

I spun around and made sure no one was with us on the stairwell before I let him in on my planning. "I do want to kill him. I'm not good at being mad at Jake but I still want Emmett's head on a silver platter. First though, I want a hot shower. I have flour in my bra and it's not the most comfortable feeling in the world."

He smirked at me, but something about the look I threw at him told him commenting was not a smart move. Smart boy, I was ready to bite someone's head off and I didn't want it to be Edward's.

"What are you planning?" He asked, catching on to my train of thought.

Now it was my turn to try out the evil Alice smile. "I think team Switzerland has been neutral long enough." I said trying to give him a hint.

He smiled and nodded along with me. "They'll never see it coming."

"We'll strike when they least expect it." I added, my mind racing with all of the things we could do to them.

"And we'll hit hard." Edward said, his smile growing into an evil grin like the one I was wearing. Now I knew why Alice wore this smile so much. It was kind of fun being an evil genius.

"After all," I said opening the door to the sixth floor. "Revenge is a bitch."

He nodded and brushed more of the flour out of my hair. "And her name is Bella."

"Damn straight it is." I said storming down the hall and into my room. Revenge would wait twenty minutes so I could take a shower. I caught sight of myself in the mirror on my wall. I looked like a ghost. My brown hair was gray, I had streaks in the flour on my face from where I had tried to get rid of it and my clothes would need to be washed twice. Revenge might need to wait an hour.

* * *

~Darkrose

I hoped you all liked this next chapter. I'll try to get to the first show in the next couple of chapters. I'm trying to decide if I want to do the shows in third person or maybe even in the pov of Cat or one of the judges. I'll probably stick with Bella or maybe Edward but it would give us a chance to see all of the dances if it was someone else. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Personally, I think Cat's kind of annoying so I probably won't pick her.


	18. Good Luck Kiss

I wanted to give Edward's point of view a try. It was harder than I thought for this story, but I hope it turned out ok. Let me know what you think. I'm not sure if I'll do other point of views later but it might be fun to get in Emmett or Alice's heads.

I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up. My friends kind of kidnapped me, spur of the moment, and I just spent the last three days trapped on an island in the middle of Lake Superior with no cell service let alone internet connection… I hate camping. I'm so sun burned I look like a tomato. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 18- Good luck kiss

* * *

POV-Edward

By the time my alarm clock started beeping I'd been up for a half hour. I towel dried my hair attempting to get it dry before I pulled a shirt on over my head. There was a soft knock on my door. It was only 5:30 and I only knew a small handful of people who would be up and about this early. Most of those people weren't here.

I opened the door without checking who it was and smiled when Bella quickly slipped inside. Angela and Rosalie had wanted to watch a movie last night so I hadn't been able to sleepover. She was already dressed for the day in clothes fit for practice and her hair was flour free.

"Good morning Edward." She rose to her tip toes so she could press a kiss to my cheek. She smelled like spice and lavender and her hair was still damp from her morning shower.

"Good morning Bella, did you sleep well?"

She nodded. "Did I sleep well, yes, was it long, no. Angela, Alice and Rose brought dirty dancing over so we didn't get to sleep until close to midnight and then I woke up at five and had to wait for them to go back to their own rooms before I could come up here."

"Dirty dancing's a good movie."

She moved farther into my room and laid down on the messy side of my bed where I had slept. I loved how comfortable she was with me. I ran my towel through my hair again and gave up on trying to fully dry it before getting dressed. I selected a shirt from my dresser and pulled it over my head.

Bella had pulled my quilt over her own head and was breathing deeply. I ran a brush through my hair, no matter how futile it was and then sat down next to her. It sounded like she was already sleeping again. The girls must have run her ragged last night.

"Bella?"

Her voice was muffled by the quilt when she spoke. "Shhh, I'm sleeping." She pulled her legs up and curled into a ball. I chuckled as my pillow also disappeared under the blanket. We didn't need to head downstairs for another twenty minutes so I let her rest. I liked the idea of her sleeping in my bed. Maybe our next sleepover could be up here instead of down in her room.

I laid down on top of the blanket next to her. She cuddled into my side and ten minutes later her head appeared out from under the blanket and she looked more awake than she had before. "Good morning Edward." She said and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek again.

"I think you already said that."

She shrugged and sat up. "We should probably head downstairs huh?"

I nodded. "Probably, the others will be heading down and if we don't show up they'll come looking for us."

"Can I use your hair brush?" She asked, catching sight of herself in my mirror. Her hair had been hanging down her back in soft curls when she arrived, but hiding under my quilt had messed it up. I thought it looked tousled and sexy, but I could see where she wouldn't want others to see it like that. I nodded and passed her the brush.

It only took a few strokes of the brush to tame her hair and then she pulled it up into a pony tail and was ready to face the day again.

"Ready? She asked heading towards the door.

I stepped into my shoes and followed her out into the hall.

"Bella, Edward?"

We both froze and I mentally cursed myself for not checking if the coast was clear. Jasper and Erik were standing in the hall just a few doors down. I tossed an arm over Bella's shoulder and tried to act like nothing was suspicious about this. Bella took a deep breath and leaned into my side.

"Morning Erik, Jasper." I said nodding in their direction.

"Good morning boys." Bella added flashing them her signature innocent smile.

Erik had a goofy grin on his face as he looked back and forth between us. "What are you doing up here this early Bella?" He asked.

"I was just coming to see if Edward was still in his room." She said with a shrug of her slender shoulders. A faint blush colored the tops of her cheeks but I was doubting Erik or Jasper would have noticed it. I was particularly attuned to Bella's blush.

They didn't seem to believe her casual explanation, but neither one of them pressed for more answers. We walked as a small group downstairs chatting about nothing in particular. Bella stopped short in the hall and pushed Jasper a step ahead of the rest of us.

"You're in the prank war. You go first." She said pointing at the door to the lounge.

He smirked at her. "Fine, thanks for springing Emmett's trap yesterday, by the way. The flour must have been a real pain to get out of your hair."

She grumbled at him and we all held our breath as he stepped inside the lounge. No pie, no flour, no nothing. The coast was all clear for now. We walked inside to find most of the dancers already eating at various tables around the room. Emmett, Leah and Jake were at one table. Alice, Jane and Victoria were at another.

Jasper joined Alice, and Erik left to sit with some of his other friends, dancers I didn't know well personally, but recognized. Over the weeks I'd been acquainted with all twenty of the other dancers but there was still quite a few I hadn't had the chance to talk to directly.

Bella and I both grabbed a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I watched as Bella's eyes moved from one table of our friends to the other. She didn't appear to want to sit with either side of the prank war.

She glanced up at me and then sat down at a table with Jessica and James, a neutral table for our currently neutral group. We weren't joining the prank war just yet but no one needed to know that. It made sense for Bella to play up like she was mad at both groups for now. I sat down with her and Jessica slid a copy of today's paper across the table at us pointing to a small article along the bottom.

"There's a small article about the show on page two."

Bella pulled the paper closer and I peeked over her shoulder as she read. The article had our names and some information about the show. A few of the group shots were under it but other than that it was a fairly boring article. Thankfully this article didn't mention Bella's accident.

Breakfast moved by slowly. Bella didn't talk much and Jessica provided enough conversation to make up for the lack of enthusiasm on our part. She chatted nonstop about the different pairs and who she thought would move on and anything else that seemed to pass through her mind. She and Emmett could have a very good conversation as neither of them seemed to know how to shut up. Emmett approached our table around 6:30 and tried to apologize to Bella.

"Bella? He actually looked nervous as he stopped by her side. I couldn't wait to talk to Bella about how team Switzerland was going to get even later. With her help I would finally get the chance to seek ultimate revenge against Emmett for all of the pranks he had pulled on me as we grew up. Revenge was going to taste almost sweeter than Bella.

Bella looked up from her cereal and gazed up at him through her lashes.

"Yes, Emmett how can I help you?"

She was trying to be polite but I could tell she was mentally strangling him. She had a death grip on her spoon and her eye brows were pushed together. I had to restrain myself from reaching forward and smoothing the skin down. She looked absolutely adorable when she was irritated. Unless she was irritated at me.

"Um, I, well we, I guess." He waved over to where Leah and Jake were sitting. "We're sorry you got hit with the flour boom yesterday."

She smiled at him and even I was having trouble not believing her fake nonchalance about this situation. "It's ok, Emmett. I overreacted yesterday. It was a mistake and I understand that. I forgive you."

She had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Thanks Bell. I was hoping you would understand." He punched me in the arm. "Sorry about the flour Eddie."

I shrugged, trying not to snap at him for using the damn nick name that he and Tanya both seemed so insistent on using on me. We would get him back later and it would be worth it. "Bella's more forgiving than I am. Just try to remember we are a neutral team. We don't want to get involved." (Yet)

He nodded. "Deal."

Emmett walked away and Bella shot me a sly little grin. He had completely believed us. Bella turned back to her food and sunk into her thinking mode. Bella was a very sweet girl but I was willing to bet she could be fierce if she wanted to be. Her friend Summer sounded like the kind of influence Bella could have learned a few tricks from. Emmett wasn't going to know what hit him.

A crew man arrived and instructed everyone to get their costume boxes and load up on the bus out front. Cat would be waiting at the stage and we would get more instruction on the flow of the show once we arrived.

I grabbed Bella's dishes and tossed them out with mine once she was finished eating. We followed the tide of other dancers upstairs and Max's task force of beauticians and costume makers was waiting to give out instructions. Jason found Bella and myself and started waving us over to him.

"Bella, Edward, so good to see you again. Are you both ready for tomorrow? It's the big day, the first show. Are you nervous? I can't wait!"

I nodded and Bella gave him a hug. "I'm so excited I can't wait either!" He was practically bouncing in his place.

We fought through the other dancers to get our boxes and meet up with him downstairs near the front doors.

"You guys are going third tomorrow. Once you get to the stage, I'll show you where to store your things. I'll see you soon. We have our own van to get us there."

Jason and the other assistants left and the dancers were herded towards the bus.

"Edward, look at the bus."

Bella pointed to the side of the bus. Instead of the large blank space that had been there before, a large group picture of us had been added to the side of the bus. It was the last one, the one Alice and Bella had given Nigel bunny ears in.

"Good picture." I said pointing to her enlarged face.

She shook her head and blushed at the picture. "You look pretty good too, I like the ears." She said pointing out where I was in the picture. Emmett and I were standing behind Bella and Alice. Emmett had given me bunny ears without my knowledge.

"I'm going to kill him."

She nodded. "We're going to kill him, and Alice too."

"You're kind of scary when you get angry." I pointed out.

She shrugged and pulled me along behind her onto the bus. The ride to the stage felt shorter than it had been the first time. People pointed at the bus and I heard Bella groan next to me.

"What's wrong?"

"I really don't like being the center of attention." She said staring at the couple in the car next to us. They were pointing to the bus and the teenage girl in the back took a picture with her phone.

"They can't see through the tinted windows." I pointed out.

"I know that."

"If you didn't like cameras why did you audition to go on a show that will be aired all over the country?"

She shrugged. "Moment of insanity?"

"You'll be fine. You're a great dancer Bella."

"Thanks."

The bus was noisy as we pulled up in front of the stage. We didn't have to worry about having our pictures taken anymore so we parked out front. Crew men directed us inside and Jason met up with us on stage where all of the other assistants were waiting.

"Bella, Edward over here."

He led us to a small alcove in the maze of backstage. There were several little nooks, each outfitted with a long mirror and a pair of simple folding chairs.

"This is our booth." Jason said as he took our costume boxes.

"You can store your costumes here." He opened up a long drawer under the counter filled with brushes and makeup and showed us how to store the boxes.

"After the group dance I need you to run back here as fast as you can. You'll get changed in that mass changing room and then come back here and I'll do hair and make up." He showed us a larger room with fabric doors that the dancers would use to change.

All of the doors were made of fabric back stage to eliminate extra sound. The lights back stage were set up in rows and Bella and I followed along as Jason gave us a quick tour. He showed us the entrance to the stair level and where we would wait for our cue when we were dancing on the main floor.

He showed us the staircase we would go to when we were on deck so we could wave to the camera. Bella hooked her arm through mine and leaned against my side.

"This is crazy." She mumbled.

I nodded along brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Kind of overwhelming."

"Just a little bit."

Jason finished the tour and led us back to the main stage. Most of the groups were already gathered there looking as overwhelmed as I felt. The stage looked big on TV but in reality it was even more massive.

"Look at all the chairs." Bella said waving out to where the live audience would be sitting during the taping. There had to be room for a thousand people in here. Off to the side, the judge's box was sitting empty already looking intimidating even though the judges weren't here.

"You ready for this?" I asked Bella as we sat with the others and waited for our next instructions.

She nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. I always get nervous before a show."

"Me too."

Cat came out with some of the show producers and they gave us a run down of how things would work back stage. Everyone knows the flow of the show. Cat comes out, she introduced FOX and the judges. Sometimes there's a group dance or she'll introduce us as the boys and the girls and we do the little opening dance that hasn't changed since the first season.

There would be a few shows throughout the season where we would start with a group dance and then Cat would get introduced and walk out through us. Then, one by one the pairs would do their dances, the judges would comment on them and then we all had to tear our hair out for twenty-four hours until we knew who was in the bottom three couples.

That seems fairly straight forward, right? LIES!!! We had to learn the names of some of the different back stage settings and places we would need to know how to get to. Each couple had a small nook where our helpers from costumes would be waiting for us. Depending on where you were in the show line up for the night you might only have two and a half minutes to get changed between commercial breaks.

We all had to learn the different cues we would get from the crew workers. If you were still waiting for your chance to dance you had to stay out of the way in your little nook. If you had already danced and would not be doing another routine that night there was a small space in front of the judges booth where we could stand and watch the others take their turn.

The staircase where dancers stood before their dances to wave at the camera was called "The Loft" and from the loft you moved to one of the "On Deck" spaces depending on where you were going to come out of. Choreographers had the option of starting your dance above the stage on the stairs, you could use the normal stage entrance in the back or start out already in place.

A crew man or woman would give your pair the cue to get on stage and then you ran like a bat out of hell to get in place before Cat cued your music to start. Since it was all live, messing up was fairly easy to do and hard to fix.

The only person who would be wearing an ear piece was Cat so she could talk to the stage manager and the rest of us had to hope nothing went wrong. All in all it was very confusing and I was glad Bella seemed to be understanding it better than I was.

"Now" Cat clapped her hands and smiled at us. "I want you all to go get into your group routine costumes and we're going to try running the whole show from top to bottom. There won't be any cameras allowed in this room as we don't want anything getting out before it's supposed to and the judges are not even allowed in the building. If you get lost, follow the backstage crew, they know what they're doing. Good luck everyone."

I took Bella's hand and led her back stage to where Jason was waiting for us.

"All done getting your ten minute run down?" He asked, our costumes were already set up on our chairs so all we had to do was grab them and slip into the dressing room.

"Was that even ten minutes?" Bella asked from behind her curtain. "She talked so fast I was having trouble following along."

I tossed my day clothes onto the bench in the boy's dressing room and pulled on the T-bird outfit I would be wearing for the Grease dance.

"I'll be here to help you both, so don't worry about it." Jason comforted her. "This is my third season with the show. I think I know what I'm doing."

"Let's hope so." I said reentering the room. Jason had me sit in a tall chair in front of a mirror and started pulling on my hair.

"Are we doing hair and makeup today too?" I asked as he reached for a tub of hair gel. That was going to be a pain to get out before the Bollywood dance.

Jason squirted some on top of my head and nodded. "Yep, we'll do it just like the real show so the assistants can time themselves and make sure everything goes right tomorrow." He ran a comb threw my hair and soon it was slicked back like John Travolta's.

Bella tripped as she hurried out of her changing room and shoved the curtain aside. She looked stunning. She had on a white top that fit her like a glove and I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the poofy pink skirt again. There was more gel in my hair than there was left in the bottle I had no reason to laugh.

"You look just like a T-bird." Bella commented as Jason had her hop up into her own chair next to mine.

I pulled the sun glasses out of my pocket and shoved them on my face. "I think the sun glasses really tie the whole thing together."

She giggled and Jason worked like a mad man to whip her hair up into a neat pony tail and run make up over both of our faces.

"Do you both see that light?" Jason asked while he worked on Bella some more. He pointed to a small light on the wall next to the mirror in front of us.

"What's it for?" Bella asked.

"Just in case I'm ever not here you should both be looking out for that light. When that light goes on, it's red, it means you need to go meet the stage manager. He'll be the one to direct you to either the loft or the deck or the floor. Whereever you need to go, he'll get you there."

We nodded along and soon after he was finished talking, the light started flashing red. The back stage lights were turned off and small running lights along the floor lit up so we could still see where we were going.

Bella jumped from her chair and grabbed my hand as we both hurried down the hallway. All of the other dancers were dressed in their Grease attire, waiting like a confused heard of pink and black sheep. Emmett punched me the shoulder.

"Looking good little Eddie."

"Don't call me that!"

He shrugged and moved off with Jake and some of the other boys. The stage manager was calling directions for how this number would run. When the timing leader gave us the cue the girls would run out the center door and the boys would move in from stage left.

The stage lights came on and we could all hear Cat speaking into her microphone.

"And here they are, people who aren't really watching. For their first dress rehearsal of the season. Let's hope it doesn't fall apart. It's your top twenty!"

Obviously she wasn't really being filmed. Bella squeezed my hand and I looked down at her. She smiled up at me and stood on her toes to whisper in my ear.

"You ready for this?"

I nodded. "I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be even more nerve wracking than this is."

"At least there aren't any cameras today." She pointed out.

"True." She moved over a little and caught me off guard when she pressed her lips to mine. A very brief thought flashed through my mind that we were in a public place but it didn't last long. My arms snaked around her waist and I pulled her closer and kissed her back.

Someone cleared their throat next to us and we jumped apart, like kids caught making out in the hallway at school. Jake was standing next to us with a dumbfounded expression on his face as he glanced back and forth between the two of us.

"What the hell was that?" He asked shooting Bella an odd look.

She hesitated and I couldn't think of anything to tell him. It was just a kiss after all, nothing too scandalous about that. A hot, sweet kiss from a girl who was quickly becoming my favorite flavor and he had interrupted it before I was finished. The only one who knew about the relationship forming between Bella and myself was Alice, and I was hoping we could keep it like that for awhile longer.

Bella squeezed her fingers around my hand one more time before she pulled farther out of my grip and jumped to Jake's side. She flashed him a brilliant smile and wrapped her arms around his neck like nothing was going on.

"Just a kiss for good luck. You can have one too." She pecked him on the cheek and quickly moved off to where the other girls were standing. A wave of jealousy ran through me and I took a deep breath to shake it off. Bella was just covering for us, we were going to have to be more careful about our physical contact around the others.

Jake shot me a look like he hadn't fully bought Bella's cover story, but he didn't get a chance to ask more about it. We got the cue to move and it was a mad rush to get on stage and in place. My worries about Jake and Bella shifted to worries about making it through the first round of competition.

* * *

~Darkrose

I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I still haven't decided whose point of view I want to do the show in. I'll probably go back to Bella since this is her story, but maybe I'll work in a flash of the others points of view as well. That way we can see more than just Bella and Edward's dance. Let me know what you think.


	19. Knock 'em dead Sandy

TaDa another chapter! YEAH! Finally, it's time for the show to get started! Let's get to it already. It took me long enough to get here and this is just week one!

I just wanted to add a small thank you to all of my lovely reviewers. Your support really does make me want to write faster and I appreciate it.

Chapter 19- Knock 'em dead Sandy

* * *

POV- Bella

I was such an idiot! What the hell was I thinking?!? I kissed him out in the open! That could have ruined everything we've been working on. I was lucky Jake was the only one who saw. I rolled over and glanced at the small black clock on my bed side table. The little green numbers said it was only 4:50 in the morning and laughed at me because I couldn't get back to sleep. I'd tossed and turned all night and it was only too clear that I wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep tonight. Maybe I was becoming an insomniac. Who needs sleep anyway? It's so overrated.

I rolled over and stomped angrily into my bathroom trying not to slam the door behind me, so I wouldn't wake the rest of my floor who were all enjoying some nice quiet sleep. I turned the water on hot and stripped out of my pajamas. My stomach felt like it was full of butterflies and I was contemplating getting sick. Today was the big show, I was stressing out, and my continuous lack of sleep was not helping matters.

The run through of the show yesterday had gone fine, better than I could have hoped. Everyone made it to their places on time and other than a few simple mess ups everything was expected to go well tonight.

The text messages on my phone which I had been trying to ignore, told me that Summer and my mom had gotten tickets to the first show and they would be waiting to see me afterwards, when they would expect me to introduce them to Edward. My mom wanted to meet the 'savior' who had rescued her little girl, and Summer wanted to meet the "'hunk of man' I was sleeping with." How do I get myself into these messes?

What was I going to say to them? _"Hi mom, Summer, this is Edward Cullen, the boy I've been telling you about. He's my dance partner on the show, my secret make-out buddy when were away from the cameras, he saved my life, he's also my partner in a prank war we haven't quite entered yet, he sleeps in my room whenever he can sneak in, and I think I'm head over heels in love with him even though I've only known him for about two weeks."_ I shivered … yeah, that would go over really well. I could just see my mom freaking out about young relationships.

After her and Charlie's marriage had ended almost as soon as it started, Renee had been super anti young relationships. I knew she was secretly happy I had never had a serious boyfriend and now that I had one I wasn't sure how she would react, especially since she didn't know him and I was already so involved with him.

I rubbed at my eyes and dumped a bunch of my strawberry shampoo in my hair. The familiar scent along with the hot water did wonders for relaxing my tight muscles but it didn't help with my continued lack of sleep. Edward hadn't been able to sleep with me again last night since Emmett and Erik had insisted he spend time with them and he couldn't get away without drawing their suspicions. I was finding it harder and harder to get a good night's sleep in this house and when Edward wasn't with me it was even worse. I was so pathetic it was almost embarrassing.

The more I thought about it, the tighter the muscles in my neck and shoulders felt and I had to start loosening myself up all over again. I stayed in the shower until my skin was a few shades lighter than boiled lobster and all the hot water was gone.

I stepped out into the steamy bathroom and wrapped a towel around my chest tucking it in under my arm like a short robe. In my haste to get up, I had forgotten to grab clean clothes to change into. After the rehearsal and time with Nakul yesterday, I had managed to fit in time to do my laundry so I had all clean clothes to pick from. Yippy!

I wasn't in any hurry now so I took my time blow drying my hair and even took some time to run a meager amount of eye liner and mascara around my eyes to try and draw attention away from the darkening bags under them. As I exited the bathroom someone tapped on my door and I opened it without looking. It was 5:40 and I was surprised it had taken Edward this long to get down here in the first place.

"Good morning, come on in." I called quickly, moving away from the door so no one else in the hall would see me.

I turned my back on the door and started rummaging through my dresser. I was comfortable in my towel with Edward around, but I had no need to prolong the moment longer than necessary. I would grab some clothes and get changed. I selected a pair of shorts and a tank-top along with some clean undergarments and turned to go back to the bathroom.

Standing frozen in my doorway, with a shocked, stupid grin on his face was Jake. He was already dressed for the day, with warm up clothes on and his hair pulled back into a pony tail. I was suddenly feeling very naked under my short towel and I had to suppress the very girlish scream building up in the back of my throat.

"Morning Bells." He motioned to my outfit, or lack there of, and smiled again. "What's the occasion? Are you having a toga party?"

"Jake! What the hell are you doing here?!? Turn around! Close your eyes, damn it!"

I clutched at my clothes and lunged for the bathroom door. In my rushed and hasty movements, the towel slipped from my body and I was almost positive that Jake had gotten a very brief glance of my completely naked ass before I managed to slam the door shut behind me.

I had my back pressed to the door and I was still clutching my clothes to my naked chest. I was panting heavily and my heart was getting ready to pound it's way out of my chest. I had not been expecting Jake to come see me this early.

"Hey Bells, you forgot your towel." Jake called from outside the door and I could hear the stupid smirk on his face.

"Eat shit!" I yelled at him hitting the door and quickly pulled on my clothes.

"What? I've seen you naked before. I'm your best friend Bells, calm down."

"That was a long time ago!" I yelled back, yanking the door out of my way and storming back into my bedroom.

Jake was leaning against the wall opposite my bathroom and he was holding my towel in his hand looking very smug. I snatched the towel away from him and tossed it back in the bathroom.

"What, you're not comfortable with me anymore?" Jake asked almost sounding hurt even though he was still grinning at me.

I scowled at him. "The last time you saw me naked we were eleven years old and you talked me into skinny dipping at La Push beach so we wouldn't have to run back to my dad's house and get my suit. We were a lot younger then and we almost got pneumonia from the cold water." And the part I hadn't added was that I was far more developed now. I loved Jake but that didn't mean I wanted him to see me naked.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I remember that day. So what's the big deal then? It didn't look like your ass has changed that much, it's still great."

I smacked him in the chest, doing more harm to my hand than to him, and walked farther into my room. "You're such a dog."

"It wasn't my fault. You opened the door." He pointed out, winking at me as he sat on the end of my bed.

"I wasn't expecting you." I said, before I could stop the words from coming out. He shot me an annoyingly knowing look and I busied myself with filling my water bottle and getting my hair pulled back into a pony tail so I wouldn't have to look at him.

"You were expecting Edward weren't you?" He asked sounding more like a dejected older brother than the best friend I remembered from Forks.

"No." I said defensively turning to face him. "I thought you were Alice." Liar, liar pants on fire, a small voice chanted in my head. I had been hoping it would be Edward but I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that.

"Don't lie to me Bells. You suck at it." Jake said, folding his arms over his chest. "You've never been able to lie to me and you know it. You weren't expecting me to be Alice."

I shot him a hard look and leaned against the wall so I was facing him, but still had quick access to my open bedroom door in case I felt like running.

"Maybe I was waiting for Edward. He picks me up most mornings before we go down to breakfast. What's it to you anyway?"

He shrugged. "You would feel more comfortable opening your door for Edward than me when you're wrapped in a towel? I thought you were all body conscious because you didn't feel comfortable exposing yourself."

"Things have changed over the years. I'm older now. Dancing has required me to get used to wearing small costumes. It's not such a big deal anymore." I lied again.

"That's bullshit Bells. I know that's a lie." Damn I really couldn't lie to him. "Dancing is something you love to do, you hate some of those costumes but you suck it up because that's what they make you wear. It hasn't changed who you are as a person and that person is someone who would have never opened the door when she was practically buck ass naked. And you're not that much older now, it's only been a few years."

"I'm turning twenty in September." I reminded him.

"I know. I'm only a few months behind you." Jake said, getting back to his feet. "I saw you lip locking with Edward yesterday. As far as I know you're not the kind of person to push for public displays of affection like that. I just wanted to make sure you were ok with him."

That caught me off guard. I had started the kiss yesterday right before Jake had seen us. It had been completely my fault. In a moment of deranged happiness and nerves I had kissed him out in front of everyone without thinking about the consequences. Thankfully, the dark lighting had stopped everyone other than Jake from seeing us.

"What do you mean, am I ok with him?" I asked really not understanding where Jake was going with this. He blew out a breath and then took another.

"He's not pushing you is he?" Jake asked with a straight face.

My own face flushed ten shades of red and I understood what he was asking. He was checking to make sure Edward wasn't forcing me to be with him. The idea was ridiculous. I'd never known a more polite man than Edward. I was also strangely touched that Jake was still looking out for me after all these years.

"No Jake, he's never forced me to do anything I didn't want to do. My relationship with Edward is completely voluntary. He would never do anything like that."

That wasn't exactly a lie. Edward had never forced me to do anything I hadn't wanted to but I didn't exactly have a choice to be involved with him anymore. I needed him. A fact that was becoming more and more pronounced as we got to know each other. I really was pathetic.

Jake nodded a couple of times. "So he didn't force you to kiss him?"

"I kissed him, Jake. Edward had nothing to do with it."

He nodded again. "I was just checking to make sure that you're ok. I'll see you down at breakfast, I guess."

Jake moved quickly past me without looking at me and said excuse me to someone in the hall as he turned out of my door. A second later Edward appeared in his place, his hair wet from a shower and ready to start the day. He glanced at my still confused face and then glanced back down the hall at where I assumed Jake was walking to the stairs.

"Bella?" He asked moving closer to my side. "Is everything ok?"

I nodded and took a moment to recompose my face. "I'm ok. Let's go." I grabbed my things and locked my bedroom door behind me as we walked into the hall.

"Bella?"

"Huh?" I looked up to see Edward watching me. He must have asked me something I hadn't heard. I was still thinking about Jake and finding it hard to concentrate on anything else at the moment.

"I asked if anything was wrong with Jake?" He repeated his question for me and I made more of an effort to focus my attention on him.

"No, nothing's wrong we just had an interesting conversation this morning. It's nothing to worry about."

"You two have known each other for a long time right?" He asked opening the door to the third floor for me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I've known Jake for as long as I can remember. Our dad's are best friends back in Forks."

"Is your dad coming to the show?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, my guess is no. My mom and Summer are coming. They texted me last night."

"I think my parents are coming too." He said as we headed to the lounge door. I felt myself smile at the mention of his parents. Ever since he had told me about his mom and dad, I had really wanted to meet his mom, Esme. She sounded like the perfect mom. "I'll have to introduce you." He said opening the door for me.

We both hesitated outside the door to the lounge. Nothing fell from the sky, nothing flew at us, and there was no explosion, no white powder, no whipped cream or water balloons filled with who the heck knew what. It was safe to enter.

"I can't wait to meet her."

"She'll love you." He said as we grabbed our food and sat down.

Today was going to be kind of hectic. We would have some time this morning to work with our individual choreographers. Then we would get whipped by Tyce as he tried to work out the kinks we still had in the group routine.

After lunch we would head over to the stage and meet with our assistants to get set up. We might have a chance to run our dance on stage one more time, and then we would eat at the studio. They would let the live audience in at five and we had to stay back stage out of the way so no one would see us. Then the live taping would start at six and we were off.

I ate silently with Edward at a small table in the corner by a window. Emmett, Jake and Leah were sitting with Alice, Jasper and Jane. That was odd. Why were both of the prank war teams sitting together?

Edward glanced down at me and saw where I was looking. He nudged my side and jerked his chin in their direction.

"What do you think that's about?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and chewed on my bottom lip. "I'm not sure."

"I don't think we want to know." He said sipping from his coffee.

"They don't know about our plan do they?" I asked him lowering my voice to a soft whisper.

"I didn't tell anyone."

"Me either."

"When are we going to talk about our revenge?" He asked.

I glanced around us to make sure no one was within listening range. "I have a few ideas but we should wait until after tomorrow to talk about it. We need to focus on getting into the next round."

"Agreed."

We finished eating and made our way upstairs to the studio where Nakul was waiting for us. He smiled when we walk in the door and welcomed us both with a big hug.

"Good morning Bella, Edward. Are you ready for today?"

I shrugged trying not to focus on my stomach. I felt like getting sick again. Edward tightened his arm around my waist.

"I think we'll do fine. We want to make you proud."

He beamed at us. "I'm proud of how hard you have worked this week. Let's get to work."

He started the music and we danced our routine. After we danced he let us rest. His idea was he wanted us to work slowly today. He didn't want us to get worn out.

"You know the dance. I just want you to have fun with this. Don't overwork yourselves."

He had us run the dance at half tempo then as fast as we could. He had us run parts with our eyes closed and then had us practice making mistakes. We worked on "fix moves" that we could do if either one of us messed up the flip or if we dropped one of the lifts.

"No matter what happens, even if you make a mistake, just keep moving. You can work together to get back on track and then keep moving. Just remember to have fun."

Once Nakul thought we had worked enough he let us sit down and catch our breath. He told us to relax and that he had confidence in us. He told us he would be at the show tonight sitting in the crowd and he looked forward to watching us.

We made our way downstairs and found some of the others waiting in studio two with Tyce. Tyce was not as lenient as Nakul. This was only the second day we had to work with Tyce, and we had to get this dance down. This would be the first dance America saw us perform. It had to make a statement as to what kind of year this was going to be.

"Jake, you need to lift Bella higher!"

"Not that way, you go left first!"

"Take five and I want you all to get your heads together when you come back!"

I popped the top on my water bottle and let more of the water splash on my face than I let get in my mouth. Tyce was running us ragged. Everyone was so wound up over the show that mistakes were happening left and right.

"This is insane." Jake grumbled, sliding his back down the wall next to me as he fell on the floor. I nodded and shot more water into my mouth.

"Yeah, but we need to get this down." I said defending Tyce. He was pushing us hard but it was only because he expected better from us. Teachers push harder when they know you can do more. It was the only way students improved. You didn't have to like it, that was just how it worked.

I caught Edward's eye from the other side of the room and he shot me my favorite grin. I smiled back and was caught off guard when Tyce started yelling again.

"Up, up. Back on the floor. Start at the top. Focus on your part."

Everyone hurried to our places and Tyce hit the music. I personally thought the dance was coming along great. I'd never had a problem memorizing moves. My hardest part was finding the right emotion. Once I had it, I just needed to let everything else fall away and put myself in the dance.

I moved to my spot in line with the other girls as the song started. This dance was fairly easy to find an emotion to. Danny and Sandy were both singing about the summer they had spent at the beach. Sandy told about the perfectly polite boy she had met who was the perfect gentleman.

Danny's story was just a little bit different. Surrounded by his friends, he was worried about sounding stupid so he spiced up his story, telling his friends about the hot chick he had found at the beach. He had saved her life and they had made out under the dock.

The two different versions of the same story were reflected in the moves we danced. The girls had an innocent quality to our choreography whereas the boys moves were far more 'riske'. The music changed and we joined together at center stage.

I skipped up to Jake's side and he hooked his arms around my waist. The dancers in rows one and three started doing a dance similar to the jitterbug, while rows two and four did a lift set. Jake hoisted me up onto his shoulder and I flip backwards over him.

As the girls in my row hit the ground it was time for the other rows to do the lift. The three pairs in row two jumped between the couple in row one and it was our turn to have the spot light.

I focused on my breath and making sure every part of my dance was as good as I could make it. Before I knew it, Tyce turned off the music and sent everyone to lunch. Lunch dragged by, I found myself regretting every bite I put in my mouth but at the same time forcing myself to eat. Passing out on stage would be even more embarrassing than missing a step.

All of the tables in the lounge had been pushed into the center so that we could eat as a mass group and topics of conversation around the room varied from the weather to the show and then some. Alice was sitting to my left and I had Edward to my right.

Alice was chatting along like nothing was wrong and she seemed to be the only person not affected by the pressure of what we were going to do tonight. Some of the dancers weren't eating at all and others were eating more than they normally did. It was actually kind of interesting to see how each person dealt with the stress.

Edward took my hand under the table and squeezed my fingers. "You want to run upstairs and make sure our costume boxes are all set? We don't want to leave anything behind." He asked in a whisper so the others wouldn't hear us.

I nodded and we dismissed ourselves. Jake shot me a curious glance as we walked away and I pretended I hadn't seen it. We hadn't talked about Edward since this morning. We hadn't really talked too much during practice at all.

We walked down the hall and into the stairwell. Edward took my hand just outside the door to the fourth floor and pulled me to a stop. He turned me to face him and my arms wound around his neck as his wrapped around my waist. I was glad we seemed to be on the same wave length.

Our lips battled until the quest for oxygen made us pull apart. God he tasted good. Over the last few days our make out sessions had taken a drastic hit. This was how I imagined a druggy would feel getting a hit after a few days without one.

He rested his forehead on mine and we stood there for a few minutes together. "Bella, what's wrong? You've been out of it all morning." He asked pulling back so he could look me in the eye.

I tried to keep my face free of emotion. I didn't want to tell him about my talk with Jake. I knew Edward was a gentleman and he would be personally offended if he knew Jake had questioned that. I nuzzled my forehead against his chest and breathed in his scent.

"I'm just worried about tonight." I fibbed, purposely not looking up.

"You don't need to be worried, we're going to do just fine." He said running his hands up my sides. He kissed my forehead. "I promise."

A door somewhere on the stairwell opened and it echoed around the cement walls as it swung shut. Edward kissed my one more time, a shorter, much less desperate kiss, and then pulled the door to the fourth floor open. We slipped inside and pushed the thick curtain door to the costume shop out of our way.

Max was standing in the middle of the room calling instructions to her crew as they packed things in boxes and piled them along the wall. Edward and I parted ways as he ducked around Max's workers dressed in their black, red, and dark purple uniforms.

I dodged my own way behind the purple curtain into the girls changing room and found my costume box. I checked each of the pieces for my Bollywood costume and then for the Broadway number. I had the dress and shoes I would wear in case I needed to do a solo tomorrow but hopefully I wouldn't need them.

We brought our boxes downstairs and loaded them on the bus along with our other things. More of the dancers were starting to come outside and within a half hour we were pulling away from the studio, heading towards the stage.

People on the street stared at us as we were ushered inside and into the stage room. Camera crews were busy setting up and janitors were sweeping around the chairs, an organized mess in order to get ready for the show.

We were given free run of the second floor where we could work on whatever we thought we needed to as individuals, pairs, or groups. Our costume assistants would come fetch us when they got here and would help us get set up downstairs.

We piled our costume boxes along the wall and people spread out around the various rooms open to us to claim work space. Angela and Ben were helping a few couples on the Broadway dance in the large room that opened off the stairs. Alice and Mike had claimed one of three small studios also available for us to use. One crew man armed with a walkie-talkie was our only connection to the downstairs mess and now we had a few hours to blow.

"What do you want to work on?" Edward asked me as we flopped down in two large bean bag chairs in the main room and watched the others work.

"Taking a nap." I said sarcastically rubbing at my neck.  
"Didn't you sleep well last night?" He asked, pulling me closer. I moved over so we were on the same large pillow and he started to massage my shoulders.

"No. I'm thinking about giving up on sleep all together." I said practically purring as his fingers undid the knots in the back of my neck. He had magic fingers.

He chuckled. "You seem to sleep well when I'm with you." He pointed out.

I nodded. "I sleep better when you're around." I admitted glancing up through my bangs to make sure no one else heard that.

"I'll have to try harder to get to your room tonight."

I smiled at the idea of him staying with me tonight. His hands continued to work out the kinks and lumps in my back and shoulders. I twitched when he hit a particularly sore muscle along the back of my ribs and he paused in his work.

"Sorry, you're full of knots."

I shrugged and his fingers continued their work on my back. "This has been a rough week."

"Yes it has, but would you rather be anywhere else?" He asked.

I nodded. "I would like to be on a boat, cruising around Hawaii, having someone bring me fruity pink drinks in coconut cups."

He chuckled. "Really?"

"No, I get sea sick. That's why Charlie stopped bringing me fishing with him when he and Harry go out on the lake."

"Is Charlie a big fisher?" He asked.

I nodded. "Fishing is Charlie's second greatest love."

"What's the first?"

"Sunday games with a can of vitamin R."

"What about you?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I'm probably in there somewhere. I haven't seen my dad in a few years."

"Because you stopped coming down to Forks."

"Yeah, my dad was always supportive of my dancing, he just doesn't think it's a real job. He always wanted me to go to school and become a teacher or something. We got into a fight about it and being as stubborn as I was, I stopped going down to Forks in the summers."

I leaned back against his chest, nestled between his legs. He was leaning against the wall and we watched for a time as Angela helped Jane and Heidi with part of the Grease number they were having trouble with.

"We probably would have met a lot sooner if you had come back to Forks." He said.

I shrugged. "Maybe. When I stayed with my dad I usually spent most of my time on the reservation. Have you ever been to La Push beach?"

"A few times, I don't get down to the reservation a lot."

"Jakes lives about ten minutes from the beach. We used to walk down there and play by the tide pools."

"I bet Jake played by the tide pools. You were probably too busy falling in them."

"Shut up." I said and playfully hit his knee.

"Edward, Bella, shouldn't you two be working on something?" I glanced up to our left and found Alice standing over us.

I shrugged. "Probably."

"There is such a thing as over working." Edward pointed out.

I nodded. "And there's that."

"You sound pretty confident," Mike said from over Alice's shoulder. He moved closer and looked us over, like he was sizing up his competition. "What makes you think it won't be you going home?" He asked.

I scowled at him and switched to defense mode. "We don't think we're immortal, if that's what you mean. We're just taking it easy. Why aren't you working on your dance?" I snapped back.

I could feel Edward tense under me and Mike back stepped, clearly not expecting me to fight back. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"We have been working. Mia thought we were doing a great job."

"All the choreographers say that." I said, not dropping his gaze.

Mike smirked at me and I wondered where the nice boy I had done the tango with had gone. He certainly hadn't had this kind of attitude before.

"You've been pretty cocky ever since your audition. I saw the interview you gave that reporter. You didn't think you were going to come across any competition."

"I was misquoted!" I snapped at him sitting up quickly. I had hoped my interview with that evil reporter had blown over. No one had mentioned it since the top twenty had been announced and I thought I was getting along well with everyone.

"That's what everyone says."

Edward pushed himself to his feet and pulled me along with him. "Come on Bella." He took my arm and pulled me along behind him. I shot another glare at Mike and then waved to Alice. It wasn't her fault her partner was an ass.

Edward dragged me down the hall and we found an empty room. He pulled me inside and shut the door behind us.

"Where does he come off?" I fumed, plopping down on the floor in the middle of the room. Edward stood in front of me and smirked down at me.

"Why are you letting him get under your skin?" he countered.

I huffed. "That reporter misquoted me. I'm not cocky."

"I know that Bella."

"Then why did he get his boxers in a twist?"

Edward chuckled and held out his hand to me. "He's nervous and you were an easy target. My guess is he wants to snap at Alice, but he can't because he doesn't want to throw her off for the show and get himself eliminated."

I took the hand he offered and let him pull me to my feet again.

"Why would he want to snap at Alice?"

"I don't think they've been getting along as well as everyone thinks they are."

"Why's that?" He lifted up his arm and spun me in a circle.

"I can generally read people very well. Alice and Mike are opposite forces. Alice is good at getting along with people but I bet she wishes she could eat him alive." He said. As he talked he moved us through the partner moves to our Bollywood dance. We were moving at less than half tempo but it was still the same moves.

"But you can't read me right?" I said, remembering when he had told me something along the lines of never knowing what I was going to do next.

He shook his head. "Not at all, and that's very frustrating at times."

"I hope you like surprises then." I said trying to sound mysterious and flirty.

He chuckled. "Love them."

Talking subsided as we picked up the pace of our dance and started running through the Bollywood number. I knew he had started dancing to distract me and I was grateful for it. I let Mike and my thoughts of the other dancers fall away and set myself up emotionally for the Bollywood dance Nakul had worked so hard to teach us.

Edward and I moved easily together not quite at tempo. I hadn't noticed the clock on the wall moving but it wasn't long before there was a rap on the door and Jason let himself in.

"There you two are. Let's go down and get you all set up then you can come back up here and eat dinner."

Edward and I followed him down the hall and past the large open room. The other dancers were already heading towards the stairs and I could see a few crew men setting up a table that would probably hold our dinner food.

Jason led us downstairs and helped us store our things. He set out our opening outfits and ordered us to return at exactly five thirty. If we were late he would bring 'the wrath of hell' down upon us and he promised us we wouldn't like it.

Jason dismissed us for dinner and we wandered down the dark halls backstage. It was almost five and they would be opening the doors for the audience any time now. I stepped away from Edward and peeked out at the stage.

The house lights were on and the judge's booth was empty but lit. I could see all of the chairs and when the front door opened I saw the first of the live crowd walk in.

"Hey, get away from the edge. We don't want anyone to see you before it's time."

I hadn't noticed Edward come up behind me to look at the crowd but we both jumped when the stage manager descended on us.

"Sorry." I said moving back a step. "I just wanted to see it."

He nodded. "This is a big night for you kids, good luck to both of you."

"Thanks."

The stage manager was a big guy known only as Mars. He was built like a tank, had smooth skin like dark chocolate and was rumored to be part shadow. He walked without making a sound and kept things running smooth.

He, like all of the other stage workers and crew men, was wearing all black--black jeans with a black dress shirt that had the SYTYCD logo on it stitched in black thread. He even had on a nice pair of black shoes and a black silk tie. The only moving color backstage besides the clothes the dancers were wearing was the strip of dark purple and red fabric on the uniforms worn by Max and Tony's team.

Edward and I made our way upstairs and it was a race to get a sandwich and eat it. I forced myself not to think about what I was putting in my mouth and just swallow it. I think there was cheese on my sandwich, but for all I knew it could have been a PB&J.

"We had better all head down." Alice said breaking the silence as she glanced down at her watch. Everyone in the room either glanced down at their own watched or jumped to their feet. You could have cut the tension in the room with a dull spoon. The only one who looked at ease was Emmett. He had cracked jokes through out dinner and tried to keep a conversation going.

Edward was sitting at my side and he glanced down at his watch.

"Five minutes, you want to go down?"

I nodded and he pulled me to my feet. "Let's do this."

Edward and I arrived in our little cubby with two minutes to spare and took our costumes into the dressing room. I stripped into the white leotard I would be wearing under my costume and tied the pink skirt in place. A white shirt with a pink collar and a pair of white shoes finished the outfit and had me looking just like a pink lady.

Edward was already in his chair when I reentered the room and Jason was busy sculpting his hair with gel. I took my seat and waited for my turn.

"Close your eyes Bella, and try not to move until I'm done."

"Gotcha."

I could feel Jason's make up brush as it flew across my checks and over my eyes. He brushed through my hair and pulled it back into a pony tail. He ran eyeliner around my eyes and told me to blink a few times as he applied mascara.

"Here, tie this around your neck."

He tossed me a bright pink bandana. I groaned. Edward laughed.

"What's so funny about this?"

"Look at the edge."

He took the bandana from my hands and showed me the words stitched along one of the corners. In dark pink thread it said 'Pink Lady'. I loved it. It was so cheesy it worked and it would tie the outfit together.

"I like it."

He helped me tie it around my neck so it wouldn't choke me and the light on the wall flashed red. My heart took off and I spun around so fast I almost tripped.

"Take a deep breath Bella. This is no time to panic." Edward said grabbing my shoulders and helping me find my balance as we joined the stream of dancers moving to the edge of the stage.

"This is the perfect time to panic." I argued.

He spun me around and forced me to look at him.

"Bella, do you know the moves?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Do you think you'll mess up?"

"No, probably not."

"I'm going to be out there too and Jake won't let you fall."

"I know that."

"Then why are you panicking?"

I took a few deep breathes and forced my heart to slow down. "I don't know."

"You'll be just fine." He gave me a small push and sent me in the direction of the other girls. "Knock 'em dead Sandra Dee."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You too Zuko."

* * *

~Darkrose

Just in case anyone got lost on that last line, Zuko is Danny's last name from the movie Grease. The main characters in that movie are Sandra Dee and the pink ladies. Then you have Danny Zuko leading the T-birds.

The next chapter will have the whole show in it I promise. Then we get to move to the fun part after the show, when the families get to see their dancers for the first time in more than two weeks. I wonder how that will go?


	20. Top Twenty

Let's get this show on the road. I'm going to play around a bit with pov: and things like that during the chapter depending on what we need to see. I don't want to be limited to just one character but I will mainly stay in Bella's head. I do want this to be her story but there are definitely parts later we are going to need to see through another pair of eyes.

This chapter has the group dance to "Summer Nights" by the cast of the most awesome musical ever "Grease". The song is sung by a wide variety of people in the cast and because I am basing some of the movements in the dance off of whether it's Danny or Sandy singing I will mark which character sings what lines in the song lyrics.  
S~ for Sandy,  
D~ for Danny,  
PL~ for any one of the other Pink Ladies, and  
TB~ for any of the other Thunder Birds. I hope that's not too confusing. I just want to make it easier for any of my readers who have not seen the movie.

Chapter 20- Top Twenty

* * *

POV- Bella

I stood in the shadows next to Alice as the lights around the stage lit up. The crowd roared and I felt myself bounce on the balls of my feet. This was it, the show was starting. Alice took my hand and we held onto each other as the crowd quieted. I placed my hand on Angela's shoulder hoping she would understand my wish for good luck without speaking. She smiled back at me with a short nod in my direction before stepping forward to take her place at the front, right along the edge of the stage. We were all in our line waiting for the cue to move.

Cat's voice rang out around the room as she addressed America and the crowd roared out again. The excitement backstage rippled like an electrical current as the dancers all fidgeted. Mars was waiting in the shadows whispering into his microphone. From my spot in the middle of our line I was unable to see any of the boys from where they were hiding around the corner.

"Hello America, I'm Cat Deeley and in what is shaping up to be one of the most interesting and playful seasons of So You Think You Can Dance ever. It is my pleasure to introduce you to your top twenty!"

Mars flashed us the signal and the lights on the floor dimmed. We raced forward using the cover of darkness to get into place. I caught sight of Cat standing up in the stair case and briefly saw three people sitting in the judge's box. I didn't let myself focus on the crowd, who had started screaming again, I didn't look back at the judges to see who would be sitting with Mary and Nigel, and I most certainly didn't let myself look at the seven giant cameras, hooked on cranes, swinging around the room catching our every movement on tape.

I caught sight of the silhouetted boys as they took their places on the stage opposite us and then it started. The lights came on in a wave of yellows and pinks. The live audience screamed and my thoughts briefly wondered about where in the crowd my mom and best friend were sitting. We hit the opening pose and my every thought snapped to my dancing as our music started and John Travolta's voice started the opening lines to the song.

_D~ Summer lovin' had me a blast._

The spot light above the boys flared bright as they all took an opening pose, Emmett ran a comb threw his hair, Jasper fixed his sun glasses, and Jake popped his collar, all of them trying to personify the legend that was bad boy Danny Zuko. It was hilarious and the audience's screams and whistles only added fuel to the fire.  
_  
S~ Summer lovin' happened so fast._

As Sandy's voice sang out, opposing Danny's as the female lead it was our turn to demand a little attention. We couldn't have as much 'fun' as the boys did with their poses since Sandy's character was far more innocent but everyone made it work. Alice fluffed her skirt, Rose lowered her dark pink glasses over her eyes, and I flipped my pony tail. Olivia Newton John, eat your heart out.  
_  
D~ I met a girl crazy for me.  
_

The boys all did a little pop step and swung their arms in our direction as we skipped forward a step.  
_  
S~ Met a boy cute as can be._

We played along with the character, each of us putting ourselves in the place of sweet, innocent Sandy telling her friends all about the boy she had fallen for over summer break. Little did she know he was only an arms reach away telling his friends all about the lucky 'babe' who'd caught his eye while he was at the beach.

_  
D&S~ Summer days driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights._

_  
_Tyce had brilliantly worked in little solos throughout the song. Whenever the pink ladies were singing one girl would step forward or place herself in the middle and get about a half second of lime light. It was the same for the boys. Whenever the T-birds sang a line one of them would slide forward or make himself known.

_TB~ Uh Well-a well-a well-a huh  
Tell me more, tell me more  
Did you get very far?_

_PL~ Tell me more, tell me more  
Like does he have a car?_

_[Everyone]  
Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh  
_

The two giant spot lights that had been fixed separately over each of the groups faded away so the whole stage was flooded with light. I turned with the other girls around me as we faced the boys and seemlessly our two pods folded together. I spun around in front of Jake and he hoisted me up onto his shoulder.

_D~ She swam by me, she got a cramp._

I grabbed my side, faking a cramp in my side, and let myself fall backwards over Jake's shoulder. Jake helped me get my feet back underneath me and I landed on my toes in time for him to grab my hand and pull me back around to his side so we could dance together.

_S~ He ran by me, got my suit damp._

_D~ I saved her life, she nearly drowned.  
S~ He showed off, splashing around._

_D&S~ Summer sun, something's begun, but uh-oh those summer nights.  
Uh well-a well-a well-a huh_

I left Jake's side and skipped over to the other side of the stage. Alice and Jane met me there and we danced together facing the crowd. This was the part in the song where the three of us would get our half a moment of fame.

_PL~ Tell me more, tell me more_

_Was it love at first sight?_

Three of the boys came up behind us and we partnered off. The boy who took my hand was named Laurent. His skin was a few shades lighter than Mars' and he had to be close to six foot. His back ground was similar to Edward's with strong ties in Ballroom but there was almost no similarity to the way that they moved. Edward and I had never had a problem working together. Laurent's style was far more showy, his legs were longer and I always felt like I was trying to keep up when we danced.

_TB~ Tell me more, tell me more_

_Did she put up a fight?_

On the word fight all of the girls on stage took a swing at their male partners. The guys dodged the blows and then the dance moved on.

_[Everyone]  
Uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh  
_

Alice was paired with Edward and he spun her forward so she could take her bow. She jumped back to him and he lifted her easily up and tossed her into the air. Another dancer caught Alice and the three of them vanished from my view as Laurent led me forward. On the third count he spun me away from him and I hit a pirouette on my left foot. My only goal was to hit as many spins as I could before the spot light moved to Jane.

_D~ Took her bowling in the arcade.  
S~ We went strolling, drank lemonade.  
D~ We made out under the dock.  
S~ We stayed out 'till ten o'clock._

I managed seven full turns before Jane stepped forward with her own personal T-bird escort, Mike. I had a moment of evil inspiration where I thought about the fact that I could trip him since I had to run behind him but that seemed too spiteful for my taste. I didn't like him, but that didn't mean I wouldn't kick his ass in this contest fair and square. I would dance circles around him and I would have lots of fun doing it.

_D&S~ Summer fling, don't mean a thing, but uh-oh those summer nights_

_TB~ Uh well-a well-a well-a huh_

_Tell me more, tell me more  
But you don't gotta brag._

_PL~ Tell me more, tell me more  
Cuz he sounds like a drag._

Everyone gathered together, center stage and we hit a full group dance set. There was no particular form to this run of moves. Everyone was windowed and the crowd started yelling again as Emmett and James raced forward and hit a synchronized back flip. I was impressed that neither of them ever missed that move. I'd only learned how to do an aerial a few days ago. I was pretty sure I would never have the muscle to hit a standing back flip. Ever.

_[Everyone]  
shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop,shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, shoo-bop bop, YEAH!_

_S~ He got friendly, holding my hand.  
D~ While she got friendly down in the sand.  
S~ He was sweet, just turned eighteen.  
D~ Well she was good you know what I mean._

We split into two groups. Girls in the front row, boys in back. My partner for this move was Jasper and he was far easier to understand than Laurent had been. This was probably the closest thing to a climax move in the dance. Jasper grabbed my hand and I spun on my toes as he pulled me forward. He lifted me up by my waist and laid me on the floor. He spun around and grabbed my wrists, pulling me through his legs and back to my feet in one swift motion.

_PL~ Woah!_

The lights flashed with the beat and I gave myself over to the music. The dance was fast and exciting. I wasn't sure Broadway was the best way to start the season. It was a fun style but it was also a dying style, an unfortunate but true statement. The art of Broadway was slowly dying in society as 'grinding' became the most sophisticated move that the average person knew. Grinding was not dance. It was fun and I would admit to having done my fair share, but it wasn't dancing.

_D&S~ Summer heat, boy and girl meet, but uh-oh those summer nights_

_[Everyone]  
woo, woo, woo_

_PL~ Tell me more, tell me more  
How much dough did he spend?_

_TB~ Tell me more, tell me more  
Could she get me a friend?_

On the word 'friend' everyone on stage froze for a split second. Emmett was standing center stage with Erik and all eyes were on them. Erik was on his knees and Emmett was looking down at him like he couldn't believe what Erik had just asked him. Emmett pulled a thin, black comb out of his jacket pocket and snapped Erik in the nose with it like they did in the movie. The audience laughed and Emmett pulled Erik to his feet. The move only took a few short seconds and then everyone was off again as the song slowed down.  
_  
S~ It turned colder - that's where it ends.  
D~ So I told her we'd still be friends.  
S~ Then we made our true love vows.  
D~ Wonder what she's doing now._

Everyone on stage paired up. I was paired with Jake again as we hit a group pose similar to the one when we had first paired up. Jake and I danced a for a few counts each pair doing something different as we danced to the song. As the song ended and Sandy and Danny believed their summer love was gone I let Jake's hand slip through my fingers and turned my back on him. The last few notes of the song trailed away and the lights faded so we were left in darkness.  
_  
D&S~ Summer dreams ripped at the seams,  
bu-ut oh, those su-ummer niiiighhhts...._

A spot light fell on Cat and the live audience roared. I spun on my toes and everyone hurried to get off the stage. Jessica and Ben were up first so everyone let them slip ahead as they bolted into the darkness back stage already pulling at the string of their costumes. My heart was racing but I was in control as I tried to catch my breath. Dancing on stage was so exhilarating!

**POV- Cat** (I'll try my best at this, don't hate me if this is kind of rough. I think Cat's annoying but I'm going to try to not write her like that.)

The spot light flashed over to my spot on the left as the dancers turned and ran backstage. I waited a moment for the crowd to calm down and fliped my cue cards over.

"Go Cat, you've only got thirty seconds left." My manager's voice spoke to me through the small ear piece hidden in my left ear. I smiled warmly at the camera and lifted the mic to my face.

The crowd was still screaming so I raised my voice to be heard over them. "There they are America. Your top twenty! Give it up for them. That was Summer Nights from the beloved musical Grease. That dance was choreographed by our very own lovely Tyce Diorio."

I waved to where Tyce was sitting and the camera flashed to his face briefly. The camera returned to me and I continued as my manager counted down my time in my ear. "After this short break, we'll introduce our judges and see what our top twenty have been up to the last seven days. This is the grand opening of season five, "So You Think You Can Dance." I'm your hoast Cat Deleey."

"And cut, perfect timing Cat. The commercial break's exactly two and a half minutes. Go down to the main stage infront of camera three. After you introduce the judges talk about the pranks." I glanced up to the lighting booth and got the thumbs up from the managers.

I chuckled to myself as I walked down the winding staircase along the side of the stage. Every year the dancers did something crazy. They would all change costume, they would show up at the wrong studio on purpose, mess with each others music. Little things that were funny but never enough to get aired on the show. This years cast of characters had gone above and beyond with the prank war and that was to good to be left a secret.

The station had been cautious of letting them start the prank war at first. We didn't want anyone getting hurt and we couldn't cover damages to the studio building. It had taken some bargaining but since we knew they would prank each other anyway we had agreed. I personally loved the idea as long as the pranks stayed clean and no one got hurt and the extra cameras were brilliant. We had prime footage of all the big pranks thanks to Emmett and Alice.

I walked across the stage and stopped in front of camera three near the judges. I caught Mary's eye and she waved at me. I threw her and Nigel a smile. I glanced around the room to make sure for myself everyone was in place. The choreographers were all present and in their designated chairs. The family members we had flown out were in their chairs in the upper level.

"Twenty seconds Cat."

I glanced up to the lighting booth and nodded my head so they would know I had heard them. I fluffed my hair and let a smile take my face as the count down began.

"7,6,5,4-"

The house lights fell and the stage lights turned blue as the spot light fell on me.

"3,2,1. You're on beautiful, make FOX proud."

I got the cue from camera three and the red light flashed on.

"Welcome back America. We just saw our top twenty perform their very first dance of the season, and what a season it is turning out to be. Tonight we have ten partner dances show casing styles from all over the world. We have a spicy Rumba, a softer Viennese Waltz, and even an exciting high energy Bollywood routine. But what kind of show would this be without the voice of reason. I am of course talking about your-"

I trailed off suggestively and smiled when the crowd joined me in saying the word judges. I waved my hand up to where my friends were sitting and the camera turned to Nigel.

"Mr. Nigel Lythgoe." The crowd clapped and a few whistled as Nigel waved his hand and flashed a smile around the room. I waved my hand in the direction of Mary, who stood up and waved to the live audience as the camera swung in her direction.

"Ms. Mary Murphy."

More claps and screams. Mary sat down and the camera moved on to our third judge. I didn't know the man well but he had been one of the guest judges during the call backs and he expressed a wish to come back. FOX had graciously welcomed him back thinking that his sharp tongue and negative attitude would help with ratings, kind of like Simon on American Idol.

"And joining us once again Mr. Chris Skobel."

All of the judges smiled until the camera was off of them and then I moved myself farther into the center of the stage. Our first pair of dancers were getting changed but they needed more time to get in place. It was my job to distract everyone with our prank story so they would have more time.

"This week America, our dancers learned who they would be pairing with and what dance styles they would get to face for week one but, not everything went as planned. Before we get to the first dance of the night let's see a little clip of our dancers at the studio as they got into some mischief the likes of which the show has never seen."

I glanced up at the big screen and the camera moved from my face to show the prank reel. The shot we had was of Alice talking to one of the stage directors. It had come to her attention that Emmett considered himself a master at pranks and she wanted to pull one small stunt on him. Our manager agreed and gave her a small black hand held camera.

The film moved to a shot of Alice and Jane as they talked to someone holding the camera. "You know how to trigger the launcher right Jasper?" Alice asked as she showed the camera a sling shot like device with a pie in it. The camera swung around so we could see who was holding it. Jasper smiled into the lens and waved. "Yes, Alice you already showed me. Just get outside so I can set it."

The camera flipped back around and showed Alice and Jane slipping out into the hallway and Jasper flipped a switch on the sling shot and hooked it over the door handle. When the door opened whoever was on the other side would be in for a treat.

The screen flipped to a shot of me. I smiled up at the camera and some of the people in the crowd giggled. "Unfortunately for Alice, her prank would be sprung on the wrong person." The camera moved to a shot of the door opening. We could hear Alice in the hall as she yelled for Leah to move but it was too late. The pie flew and as it hit Leah, the audience burst into cheers. We had a clip of Leah and Emmett turning on Alice and then a shot of them shaking hands, agreeing to the terms of their war, before the screen moved back to me.

"What started as a simple prank moved to a full fledged war. With Alice and Emmett taking the leads on opposite sides. All week the two master minds planted pranks designed to see who really was the prank master. Unfortunately, not all of the traps hit their intended targets."

Another clip played on the big screen and we watched as once again the door to the lounge was rigged with a trap, this time a sack of flour with a tear in it set to fall on the next person through the doors. The door swung open and we all had a split second to see Bella and Edward's faces before the bag exploded. Bella jumped and they both vanished in a cloud of white powder. We had a shot of Bella and Edward yelling at Emmett before they both left the room.

The screen turned off and the camera turned back on me as the spot light fell.

"Ben and Jessica are in place. Finish the prank tape and introduce them for after the break." I nodded my head ever so slightly so they would know I had heard them and turned my smile on the camera.

"Alice and Emmett have both proven that they are indeed masters of pranks in the SYTYCD studio, but it would seem both of them need to work on their aim. Will they ever hit their intended targets? We'll just have to wait and find out. After this short break we will get to see who our first couple is and what style they pulled out of the hat." The camera moved up to where Ben and Jessica were standing on the loft stair case and they waved at the camera.

"And cut. Great job doll. We have another two minute break."

I nodded and moved back over to my spot out of the way near the judge's booth. The break didn't last long and then I was back on stage announcing Ben and Jessica.

"This week our dancers got to meet their partners for the first time and then they chose their first styles. Take a look at this."

A short clip flashed on the screen as Nigel called Ben's name and introduced him to Jessica. They hugged and then it moved to a clip of me holding out the magic hat for them to pick a card. Jessica reached into the hat and pulled Jive out.

"And action." I stepped forward and flashed my smile at the camera.

"Up first, we have Jessica and Ben with a fiery Jive routine."

My spot light flicked off and I scurried to get off stage as the stage lights turned pink and purple. Jessica was dressed in a bright pink dress with a plunging neck line and Ben stood opposite her in black dress pants and a button up shirt, his tie matched Jessica's dress and they started to move as their music played around the room.

The dance was fiery and sexy. Jessica demanded total attention as she moved with Ben. I wasn't a dancer so I didn't know all of the technical terms but I'd been with the show long enough to know it wasn't a strong dance. Ben was uncomfortable and Jessica seemed more interested in the camera than in staying with her partner.

The music ended and the crowd cheered. I jumped up on stage and waved them over to me.

"Come here darlings that was wonderful." Jessica flew to my side and I wrapped an arm around her waist as we turned to face the judges.

"Nigel what did you think of our first dance?"

**POV- Bella**

There were monitors in all of the dressing rooms and I watched as Ben and Jessica got critiqued by the three judges. The judges had liked the dance and they gave their compliments to the choreographer. They thought that Ben and Jessica both needed more time to learn to work together but they saw potential. Where Mary and Nigel saw hope, Chris saw crap. He was harsh and handed out his judgment without hesitation.

"It was a good dance, but I'm not sure how either of you got to this point with moves like that. You didn't show any emotion and your dance suffered for it. I hope for your sakes you can learn to dance together but, I don't see that happening anytime soon. Jessica dear, you really should stop watching the camera. I promise you'll get plenty of air time, but it won't be air time you're proud of if you don't focus on your dancing. Ben needs you to pay attention or you'll drag him down with you."

The crowd didn't seem to know how to respond to that. A few cheered; a few booed him and Jessica looked like she'd been slapped in the face. Chris Skobel was back and he was even meaner than before.

Jason was flying around the chairs where Edward and I were sitting. Our Grease costumes were on the floor in the corner. Jason had said we could pick them up later. Edward was desperately trying to dry his hair. Jason had shoved his head under the faucet in our sink to try and eliminate some of the grease.

"Bella use this, clean your face off. I'm going to start working on your hair."

Jason tossed me a wet cloth and I started wiping off the make up I had needed for our first dance. We had both already changed into the Bollywood outfits. I tightened the ties around my ankles and made sure the clear straps on my top would hold. The bright green outfit was adorned with beads my ankles and wrists were adorned with gold bracelets.

Edward had his hair dry enough so it wouldn't drip and he pulled on his vest. His pants were similar to mine, tight around your hips baggy around your legs. Both costumes were embroidered with gold thread but where mine was green, his was sky blue.

Jason had the gold circlet threaded through my hair. The green ribbons and beads hung in my hair and jingled whenever I moved my head. He sat Edward down and fixed his hair. I glanced at the screen, Alice and Mike were just starting their dance after the third commercial break. I didn't get to watch as closely as I would have liked. Jason brushed make up around my eyes and over my cheeks before he clipped the thin veil in place. The veil was a soft green color with a gold chain that hooked to the circlet in my hair on both sides of my face.

"Ok you're done, go go. Good luck to you both. Go find Mars, he'll get you in place. You look great, have fun. Go, no time to waste."

Jason pushed us both out of our little dressing room and into the dark hall. I put my hands on Edward's hips and followed along behind him as we made our way through the maze that was back stage. Mars waved us over to him and positioned us just off the side of the back entrance. We would be going on right after Alice and Mike before the commercial break.

I glanced down at the screen so I could watch some of their dance. Alice looked great. Mia Michaels had put her in a simple, elegant, sheer black dress. The dress ended just below her knees and had a soft fabric tie around her waist. Mike matched in a pair of black pants and a black tank top.

The song they were dancing to was slow and elegant. I didn't know the song but the idea behind it was a beginning relationship. Girl meet boy, they fell in love, they hit a few bumps on the road, it almost tears them apart, they overcome. It was a very classical contemporary dance and they did a great job. Mike was totally in his element and he worked well with Alice even if it was clear her height threw him off.

Edward took my hand in his and kissed the back of my knuckles.

"Ready?"

I nodded. "I hope so."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

I bit down on my bottom lip as I thought about what we were about to do. What if I missed the flip? We'd worked all week on that one flip. It was only about three seconds long and if I missed it, it would knock the entire dance on its ass.

Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. "You're freaking out."

"What if I mess up?"

"Then we make it work."

I scowled at the dark. How was he so calm? I was a mess inside and bad at hiding that. My heart was racing and I could hold still as I shifted my weight from foot to foot. He let out a sigh and kissed the spot right below my ear.

"Would I let you fall?" He asked in a hushed whisper. His breath tickled my ear and I shivered at his touch.

"No."

"That's right, I promise you won't fall. You're going to do great. Just put yourself into the emotion. This is what you do."

I nodded. This is what I did. I was a dancer. I could do this, no problem. The rush from the first dance was still pumping through my veins and I tried to turn my nerves into excitement. We had worked hard on this dance. We would be fine. And if we weren't, then I would get to fail with Edward. I was dancing with Edward. We could do this.

I hadn't noticed that Alice and Mike finished their dance and I jumped when the crowd came to life. Cat pulled them over in front of the judges. Mary loved them or really she loved Alice. She clapped her hands and gave Alice a first class seat on the hot tamale train. Mary had mentioned before that Alice was quickly becoming her favorite and I cheered with Edward and the crowd as Alice did a little happy dance.

Chris was harsher. He liked Alice well enough but thought she still had a lot of work to do on learning the new style. Mary got mad at him and they fought for a second before Cat split them up and he continued with Mike.

"Mike it was clear to me that this is your intended style. If this was the best you could do with your own dance style then I don't think you will make it far in this contest. You were holding Alice off the ground for most of the dance but it was she who kept you from falling on your butt."

Cat dismissed them and Mike and Alice jumped off stage to stand with Ben and Jessica in our designated spot on the ground near the judge's booth. I was bouncing in place as Cat started talking about Edward and I.

"Our next two dancers already know each other." Cat said with a smile as I watched the monitor by my feet and waited for the cue from Mars. "They've danced together once before, during the callbacks and shared a life threatening accident that could have easily killed them both. Let's see how Edward and Bella took the news when it became known that they would dance together again."

"I love you Bella! Kick some ass girlfriend!!"

I blushed as the very familiar voice of my best friend yelled at me from the crowd. I didn't know where she was sitting but I couldn't wait to see her again after the show.

"Was that Summer?" Edward asked me.

I nodded and rolled my eyes. "Yeah. that was her."

"Good friend."

I shook my head. "Loud friend."

He shrugged. "Same thing."

I glanced down at the screen and watched the clip that America was seeing on their TV screens at home. It was a shot of Nigel telling Edward that I was his partner. It showed me as I ran across the stage and locked my arms around his neck. Edward spun us in a circle and then the clip changed. Cat held out a black hat and invited me to pick a card. I watched with Edward as the Bella on the screen pulled out Bollywood and we both stared at it dumb struck.

I missed the cue but thankfully Edward was watching Mars. He grabbed my hand and we both raced down onto the floor. I took my spot on the far left of the stage near the front where Edward had his spot in the back on the right.

Cat said our names and her spot light fell. The lights on stage turned a soft blue color as the music started. As I made my way to the other side of the stage the lights got brighter so they almost matched the color of Edward's outfit.

_Jinke Sar Ho Ishq Ki Chaaon  
Paanv Ke Neeche Jannat Hogi  
Jinke Sar Ho Ishq Ki Chaaon  
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya  
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya  
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya  
Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya_

I still didn't know the true translation of the song but it sure was beautiful. I hit the opposite side of the stage at the end of my first set and started the Belly dance set. I could see Edward out of the corner of my eye as he started to move away.

Silly boy couldn't get away from me. I let myself fall into character and a sly smiled spread across my face. I turned my body so I was facing him and beckoned him forward with my finger. He took a few steps back and some of the people in the audience laughed as he tried to avoid me.

I was insulted, how dare he not want to dance with me. I took a few steps forward and shook my head slightly at him as I reached out and took his hand. Stupid boy.

I pulled him to me and we started the first run of partner moves as the tempo picked up. The lights moved from blue to green and yellow. Edward remained reluctant through our first set of partner moves so I stepped away from him and danced on my own.

As I came to the end of my run I took a deep breath and slowed my heart down so I could focus. Here it was, the flip. I spun away from him, only to turn back and run into the double step. I threw my arms down and kicked off as hard as I could. Please don't fall.

My feet hit the ground a split second after they left and I was standing in front of Edward. I did it! Edward grabbed my hips and I pushed off of the ground as he lifted me into the vertical lift. I hit the V kick and he set me back on my feet. I spun around again and pulled Edward to me so we could dance some more. He followed along and we moved together back across the stage.

The beads in our costuming clicked as we moved and I took a few steps away from him and listened to the audience cheer as Edward did his flip behind me. They didn't hiss so he must have landed right. I hoped he was in place because I didn't have time to look. I spun quick on my toes and launched myself sideways.

The beads on our costumes pinched as I rolled over Edward's back. The last of the difficult moves was over and we hadn't missed a one. I landed crouched on my knees and Edward jumped to his feet as soon as I was off his back. I launched myself forward and he caught me flipping me over so I landed on my feet again as we moved forward on the stage.

The lights brightened as we moved, the green giving way to orange as the now familiar lyrics played around us. I kept my pace with Edward easily and let myself enjoy the moment. The crowd only added to my adrenalin and when the music ended I threw my hands in the air.

The audience roared and I caught sight of my mom and Summer holding up a giant poster with my name on it. I lowered my hands and Edward weaved his fingers through mine as Cat called us over to her.

"Come here you two, that was fabulous."

She hooked her arm around Edward and pulled us right in next to her. I took a few slow, deep breaths to try and catch my breath as I looked up at the judge's booth. They were sitting there watching us. Mary had a smile on her face and Nigel looked pleased but my eyes were drawn to the man sitting with them.

The first time I had met Chris Skobel he scared the crap right out of me. As far the dancing world was concerned, he was fairly new on the scene but he was making big waves. He had a few award winning dances and was known across the country for tearing people apart. He only accepted the best and anything under that was a failure as far as he was concerned.

I knew I should have cared about Mary and Nigel. They would be with me for the whole show, but I couldn't stop myself from watching him. The compliments I had gotten from Chris were close to how a chef would feel if someone like Gordon Ramsey or Wolfgang Puck said their cooking was good. He had said during the callbacks that he would see me in the top twenty and I was desperately hoping I hadn't let him down.

Cat brought me out of my thoughts as she turned her attention onto Nigel. "So Nigel, what did you think of Bella and Edward?"

Nigel smiled. "If life threatening events make it possible for two people to dance like that on week one, I'm going to set it up so all of our pairs almost get run over."

Some of the audience members laughed and I flushed deep red. Why did we have to talk about the van? Was I the only one who wanted to forget about that?

"I don't think that's a good idea Nigel but I agree there is something about the two of you together that makes it feel like you've been dancing for years." Mary said with a smile.

Cat held her mic out to us. "What did you to think about getting Bollywood week one?"

I rolled my eyes. "It was a challenge, but getting to work with Nakul was a great experience."

"We wanted to do everything in our power to make him proud and really give a good example of his culture's dance to the rest of the world." Edward added.

Cat smiled and looked up into the crowd. "And how did you think they did Nakul?"

He was here? I turned my head with Edward as we followed Cat's gaze into the sea of people. To the left of the judges booth there was a collection of chairs separated from the rest of the live audience. Nakul was sitting there with more of the choreographers. He stood up and clapped his hands in our direction when the camera moved to him.

I smiled up at him as he waved down to us and I could tell he had been pleased with our performance.

"There were a couple of places were the hand movements could have been cleaner." Nigel continued, "but if I hadn't known that this was your first time doing Bollywood I never would have guessed it."

Cat spoke into her mic. "What did you think Chris? Did they sink or swim?"

Chris looked down at his notes before resting his chin on his fingers, which were woven together in front of him. He smiled. "I told you, you would make it to the top twenty Bella."

I nodded. "Yes, you did."

"I love watching you dance Bella. I have never been shy of admitting that. You caught my attention during the callbacks and I think dancing with Edward only made you stronger. You could have used another week to make that dance perfect, but everyone here could use another week. There's just something about the pair of you." He turned his attention to Edward.

"Edward you bring a technical strength to the dance. Your lines are clean, you're sure of every move you do. You're going to be a powerhouse in this competition I'm sure of it. The only thing you seem to lack is a deeper emotional level to bring you into the character of who you're dancing. Dancing is really just like acting, except you do all your own stunts. Bella brings that emotion and so much more when she dances and you pull each other up."

He bowed his head to show he was finished talking and Cat turned back to the camera.

"After the break we're going to see two more dances including a sexy Cha Cha and a Viennese Waltz. I'm Cat Deeley and this is So You Think You Can Dance."

The camera light turned off and Cat turned to face us.

"Good job both of you. You can go down the stairs right there and stand with the others until the show's over."

We nodded and hurried down the stairs. I kept hold of Edward's hand as we neared the others and only let go when Alice jumped me. She threw her hands around my neck and I pulled her into a hug.

"That was great, Bella!"

"You too Alice, congratulations on the train ticket."

Alice laughed. "That was so unexpected. I mean its only week one. Has she ever done that before?"

"I don't know."

I gave Ben a hug and we exchanged "good jobs" and "thank you's" with him and Jessica and Mike. The lights flashed as the commercial break ended and I turned back to the stage with the others as Cat started speaking again.

I watched along with Edward as first Emmett and Leah took the stage followed by Jasper and Victoria. Leah's dress blew my mind. The sleek dark purple fabric hugged her every curve, leaving large holes in the sides so people could she her creamy tan skin. Layered around her hips, adding to her movements as she dancing with Emmett were fluffy purple and black feathers. Leah and Emmett might butt heads back stage but on the dance floor they were two powerful dancers and were clearly going to be some tough competition.

Jasper and Victoria had an opposite style. Instead of sexy and scandalous, their song was slow and passionate. The Viennese Waltz dealt with long lines and steady backs. You had to keep your arms strong and hold the shape of your dance as you moved back and forth across the stage. Victoria's dress was a floor length, sheer purple number and her mane of natural blazered hair had been wrapped tight in a bun.

Both groups received good comments from the judges. Chris wanted to see more passion from Jasper and Mary thought that although Leah and Emmett had done a great job with the Cha Cha that they might be in trouble if they got a different style.

As group after group performed their dance for the judges, they joined the rest of us down on the floor. We would exchange hugs and compliments and Alice poured attention over each of the costumes. She was upset that her dress was so simple whereas some of the other girls got to wear far more attractive outfits.

It felt like the whole show only lasted a few minutes, but before I could blink my eyes Cat was waving us all up on stage. The girls started hurrying up the stairs in their heels and most of the boys just jumped the side of the stage.

Edward jumped up onto the stage and I was heading to join the line for the stairs as he held out his hand to me. He grabbed my wrists and I jumped, being barefoot had its advantages. He hosted me up into his hold and we joined the others gathered around Cat.

"Well, there you have it America, your top twenty for season five! Remember to call in after the show to vote for your favorite couple. Tomorrow we will see which three couples fall into the bottom. The six dancers who fall into the bottom will be given a chance to dance for their lives and perform solo's for our panel of judges. Once the judges have made their decision, we will have to say goodbye to one boy and one girl. We'll see you here tomorrow 8/7 central on Fox. I'm Cat Deeley and this is So You Think You Can Dance."

The theme song for the show started playing as the cameras swung around the stage. Cat lowered her mic and started dancing and the rest of us followed suit. Edward took my hand and I let him spin me in a circle. Another strong hand took mine as Jake pulled me to his side.

"Bells, is your mom here?"

I nodded along as Alice jumped to my side and I took her hand so we could dance.

"Yep, she's here with Summer."

I stayed on stage with the others as the crowd got to their feet and started gathering their things. I heard my name being called and turned to find Summer racing towards the stage.

Alice stayed by my side as I ran to the edge of the stage. I jumped down and threw my arms around Summers neck as hers locked in a vice hold around my waist.

"Bella it's so good to see you. You did so awesome. I can't believe you're really doing this. I missed you so much."

Summer could have rivaled Alice in the fast talking category. I held her out at arms length and looked her over as she did the same to me. Summer had always been a few inches taller than I was and her white blonde hair hung down her back. She was a sight for sore eyes and I missed her so much.

I pulled her back into a hug and we jumped up and down a few times. Alice shifted next to me and I suddenly remembered my manners.

"Summer, this is Alice."

Alice stepped forward and shook hands with Summer. Summer's eyes turned into saucers as she recognized Alice from the videos we had watched.

"You're the Jazz dancer from New York!"

Alice nodded and another pair of warm arms grabbed me and pulled me into a hug.

"Oh Bella baby, you were so beautiful on that stage. I'm so proud of you honey."

I locked my arms around my mom's neck and started crying. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed her until she was here in my arms.

"Mom, it's so good to see you. This is Alice. She's one of my friends. Oh, and here comes everyone else."

As more of the live audience members started to file out Edward, Emmett, Angela and Rosalie walked over to where I was standing with my family and sat on the edge of the stage so I could do introductions.

"Edward." My mom grabbed his arm and pulled him off the stage into a big hug. "Thank you for saving my baby. I can't tell you what that means to me. How can I ever repay you?"

Edward wrapped his arms around my mom and hugged her back.

"It was nothing, Ms. Swan."

"You will call me Renee. I demand it."

"Yes ma'am." Edward said flashing her one of his brilliant smiles as she finally let him go. He moved to my side and I introduced the others.

"Mom, Summer, this it Rosalie, Edward's brother Emmett, and this is Angela."

My mom gave Alice and Angela both hugs and Summer moved to my side. She and Edward exchanged glances and it looked like she was sizing him up. Summer was the only one other than Alice who knew about Edward spending the night in my room.

She walked around him and flashed him a small smile before moving closer to my side.

"I approve but, if he does anything stupid I could totally take him."

She glanced up at Edward and narrowed her eyes. "You will take good care of my best friend or I will hurt you."

He nodded. "I give you my word."

"Good." She moved back over and started talking with Alice.

Jasper, Ben, Jake and Erik joined us and I did another round of introductions.

"-And the tall one on the end is Jake. Mom do you remember Charlie's friend, Billy Black?"

She nodded. "Of course I do."

"Jake is his son. He's from the reservation down by Forks."

My mom smiled up at Jake. "Jacob Black? Look at how big you are now. I remember when you were born. Bella's told me all about you of course. It's nice to meet you."

"Good to see you again too, Renee."

Emmett tapped Edward on the shoulder.

"Ed, mom and Dad are over there. We should go say hi." He pointed off to the other side of the room where a tall man with blond hair was standing with his arm around a woman's waist. The woman had soft caramel colored hair and a warm smile.

Edward nodded and took my hand. "Would you like to meet my parents?"

"Definitely."

I excused myself from the others and told them we would be right back. Edward kept ahold of my hand as we neared the couple and the woman pulled Edward into a hug as soon as we were close enough.

"Oh Edward honey, that was so great. You both did fantastic."

She moved on to Emmett. Emmett wrapped his arms around the woman and pulled her off her feet into a hug.

"Good to see you mom, Dad." He added glancing over at where Carlisle was now embracing his youngest son.

I waited until they were done greeting each other and Edward took my hand again. "Carlisle, Esme, this is Bella."

Esme pulled me into a hug and I wrapped my arms around her.

"Edward's told us so much about you dear. I can't believe how many of the dancers on this show are from the Forks area. We talked to your dad just a few days ago."

"How is Charlie?"

"He's doing wonderfully, no need to worry. He talks very fondly of you dear. He called to talk to Carlisle after he got the call about your accident."

"Can I talk to you Edward?"

Carlisle kept his eyes on Edward. Edward nodded and patted my shoulder.

"Sure thing."

"It was nice to meet you Bella." Carlisle said quickly as he and Edward walked away. Esme and I walked with Emmett back over to the others and Emmett introduced his mother.

I hopped up on the stage so I could sit next to Summer and Alice but my eyes were glued on Edward. Carlisle had pulled Edward aside and they were far enough away that I couldn't hear. Carlisle's back was to me and I couldn't read Edward's lips as he spoke.

"Alice?"

I tapped on her shoulder to get her attention. Alice turned to face me, she followed my gaze to where Edward and Carlisle were talking.

"What's up B?" she asked, scooting closer to my side.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. Can you tell what he's saying?"

Alice and I watched as Carlisle and Edward whispered together. I might not have been able to read his lips but his facial expressions were not those of a happy person. He had a smile on his face and he was nodding along to what ever Carlisle was saying but there was a crease in-between his eye brows and his jaw was locked.

"I'm sorry Bella. I can't tell. Do you think they're arguing?"

"I don't know."

Emmett moved so he was blocking my view and smiled down at us.

"Did you two have fun during the show?" He asked.

Alice smiled and started talking about her dance with Mike. Rose and Erik joined in and I tried to pay attention to what they were saying. Emmett was still blocking my view of Edward and Carlisle and I had a funny feeling he was doing it on purpose.

A crew man came around and started asking the dancers to return to the stage.

"We need everyone back on stage. Family and friends are going to have to leave now."

I moved to give my mother a hug.

"Bye mom, thanks for coming down here."

She kissed my forehead. "Good luck with the rest of the show Bella. We'll be watching from home. I'm so proud of you honey."

"Thanks mom."

She moved aside and Summer locked herself around me.

"Bella I'm going to miss you so much. You better kick everyone's ass."

"Hey!" "Who's side are you on?" "That's not very nice."

A bunch of my new friends who were within range to hear Summer speak acted offended. Summer flashed her winning smile and hooked an arm around my shoulders.

"I like all of you just fine and I'm glad Bella's got good friends, but I'm on Bella's side one hundred percent. So don't take it the wrong way if I don't wish the rest of you good luck." She turned back to me. "Good luck with the rest of the show Bella." She leaned in so she could whisper in my ear. "And good luck with your boy toy. He's even more attractive in person." She pecked my check and then walked away with my mother.

I watched as Emmett pulled his mother into another bone crushing hug. I looked back over at Edward. He and Carlisle were walking back to the group. Edward gave his mother a quick hug before walking back over to me.

"Good bye Bella." Esme waved to where I was standing and I smiled at her.

"Good bye Esme, it was nice to meet you."

Carlisle waved in my direction as well but I didn't have a chance to respond. Edward grabbed my hand and we followed along behind the others up onto the stage. Cat congratulated everyone on a great show and told us the busses would be waiting out back.

I followed along with Edward as everyone made it out back. Jason was waiting with our costume boxes.

"You both did a great job today." He said as he tried to hug me around the box I was holding.

"Thanks for all of your help, Jason."

He waved it off and Kevin joined us. "It was nothing, this is what we do. I'll see you both at your next fitting."

We waved as they walked off with the other crew members and Edward helped me load our boxes in the baggage compartments above our seats.

"Your mother seems really nice. I was glad I had the chance to meet her."

Edward smiled up at me as I sat down next to him.

"I could tell she really liked you too."

He didn't say anything more and I didn't want to push him into telling me what he and Carlisle had been talking about. It wasn't any of my business. If he wanted to talk about it he knew I would listen. Once all of the dancers got on the bus, the driver asked us to sit down and we were on our way back to the studio.

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~Darkrose

I'm sorry this took so long to get typed up. It got so long I couldnt find a place to stop it. (OVER 10,500 words!) I've also got more classes starting up on Monday so I've been spending a lot of my free time with my friends as they all head off to different parts of the country for college and up at my new school trying to learn the layout of the campus. I'm still getting lost. (I hate feeling like a freshman all over again!)

I'll try to keep my updates as quick as possible but I'm having trouble finding time on the computer and I dont want to put anything up before I'm sure its good otherwise the story turns to crap. I refuse to write crap. Please stay with me, I'm not stopping this story until it's finished and I'm definitely not running out of inspiration. I love working on this story.

R&R let me know what you think of my story. An author is nothing without feedback, both positive and critical...And they make me smile!


	21. Bad Crowd

Before we get started I would like to make a comment to one of my reviewers. The review was anonymous but she called herself (Anna). DING DING DING! You win the state game. Although I think you need to add one more season, we definitely have a sub-season called "Mosquito" in there somewhere and I most certainly will be putting Bella and Edward with Nat and Tab. They're probably my favorites out of all of the show choreographers after Tyce. I love Tyce!

~All my love and thanks to my bombdigity Beta!!! We don't generaly find all of the mistakes until after I've posted the chapter, but it would be worse without her help.

Chapter 21- Bad crowd

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POV: Bella

The ride back to the hotel was quiet. Everyone was coming down from their adrenalin highs and the week of work was taking its toll on everyone. Even Alice was quiet in her seat as she dozed off with her head against the cold bus window.

Tomorrow morning would be time for everyone to work on individual solo routines. We wouldn't know until the show, who was in the bottom three couples but everyone had to have a piece ready just in case it was them.

The bus pulled up in front of the studio and everyone grabbed their things and headed inside. Emmett was trying to get plans together for a party on the seventh floor for anyone who wanted to come. I scowled at him when his back was turned. A party on the seventh floor meant Edward wouldn't be able to come down and stay with me. Emmett would expect him to be at his party.

I put my costume box away and changed out of my Bollywood costume. Alice's energy had returned as she, Jane and Leah talked about the party Emmett was pulling together.

"Bella, are you going to come hang out upstairs?" She asked me as I put my costume away in my box so that Max could unpack it tomorrow.

"I don't know Alice. I'm kind of sleepy. There's a lot of work to do tomorrow before the show."

She frowned. "Oh come on Bella, it'll be fun. You could hang out with Edward." She added trying to sweeten the pot so I would join her.

I little light bulb went off above my head and I half expected the others to see it. Emmett would expect Edward upstairs at his party and because of that fact I knew he wouldn't be able to come down to my room tonight. That didn't have to stop me from going up to his room though.

"Ok, Alice. I'll come up in a little bit. I'm going to get changed first."

She smiled. "Me too, I'll see you up there."

I found Edward in the hall outside of the costume shop talking to Emmett. He waved Emmett off and fell into place next to me as I started up the stairs.

"I won't be able to sneak down tonight. Emmett's expecting me upstairs." He said once the door was closed behind us and no one would be able to overhear us.

I nodded. "Would you be against me sneaking up?"

He hesitated for a second and I hoped I hadn't over stepped my place. I certainly wouldn't force myself on him. I glanced up at him and felt my traitorous cheeks burn. I caught his eye and a small smile pulled at his mouth.

"I would like that very much Bella, if you wouldn't feel uncomfortable."

We were stopped outside of the door to the sixth floor. I pushed the door open and smiled back up at him.

"I've never felt uncomfortable with you, Edward. I'll be up in a little bit."

"I'll see you soon."

He turned and started climbing the stairs to the next floor. I watched until he was out of my sight before slipping into the hall. The hall was empty but some of the doors were propped open and I could hear the others girls as they changed for the party.

I changed into a pair of lime green cotton shorts and a white long sleeved shirt. I ran a brush through my hair and decided to reject my shoes altogether. I bumped into Alice in the hall. She had changed her clothes and a big smile was plastered on her face.

"Bella, ready for the party?"

"Can we really call it a party? Emmett only started planning this gathering an hour ago."

"I think you'll be surprised." She said with a smile as she pushed the door out of our way.

I could feel the pulse of music grow as we got closer to the door to the boys floor. I opened the door and felt my jaw drop. All of the doors to the boys rooms were propped open and decorations had been hung across the hallway.

Speakers were lined up in the hallway and music was playing in the back ground. Several of the dancers were mingling in the hallway and even more could be seen inside some of the bed rooms. A table had been set up with snacks and there was a cooler with drinks. I wasn't sure I wanted to know how he had done it.

Edward came out of his room and found us standing in the hall.

"What do you think ladies?"

Alice jumped forward and nodded approvingly as she took in the decorations. "Very nice for how last minute this was. I probably could have done better." She walked off and vanished into one of the bedrooms.

"How did he do it?" I asked taking another step forward.

Edward shrugged his shoulders and I followed him down the hall and into one of the bed rooms.

"There are some things we just don't ask."

I wasn't sure whose rooms this was but they had set a dartboard up above the bed and Jake was competing against Laurent. I knew the gist of how to play darts. You throw the little arrow at the board and score points. That was about the extent of my dart knowledge.

I watched with Edward and some of the other dancers as Jake beat Laurent and then started hunting for a new challenger.

"Bells, you want a go?"

He held out the red arrows in my direction.

"I can't play darts."

"Oh come on, it's fun."He said shaking the arrows in my direction again.

Edward nudged me forward a step. "Go on Bella, try it."

"Fine."

There was some cheering and I was pulled up onto the end of the bed with Jake. You had to keep one foot touching the back head board at all times. Who ever had the dart closest to the center would be declared the winner.

"Ladies first." Jake said waving his arm out for me to go.

I tried to brace myself on the bed but Jake was moving around and I was having trouble keeping my balance on the soft mattress. I pulled the small dart back and let loose with everything I had. The dart flew forward and stuck with a dull thud.

The room burst into laughter. My little red dart was stuck in the wall next to the dart board. Jake moved closer to my side and hooked an arm over my shoulders.

"Hey B, you're supposed to hit the board, not the wall."

I elbowed him in the side.

"If you're so smart you do it."

"With pleasure."

Jake set up his dart and as he moved to throw it I jumped on the bed. Jake lost his balance and fell. I laughed long with the rest of the room as he got back up on the bed. His arrow had flown off to the side bounced off the wall and fallen on the floor.

"That's dirty fighting." He accused me with a scowl.

"At least I managed to hit the wall."

"You're up, no more tricks."

"Deal."

My next dart hit the outer rim and I cheered.

"I hit the board!"

Jake got one in the row next to the bullseye. He cheered and I set up my next dart. By the end of the game I had two darts in the wall and another on the floor. Jake had managed to get all the rest of his near the center but never actually hit it.

"Good game Bells."

I rolled my eyes. "You trounced me, Jake."

"What can I say, I've got a gift. Any one else want to try and take on the master?"

There was some whispering around the room. Jake had slowly been gathering an audience and no one seemed willing to take him on.

"I'll do it."

Edward stepped forward and offered me his hand as I jumped down from Jake's bed. Edward took my darts from me and jumped up next to Jake.

"You play darts Cullen?" Jake asked sounding surprised.

Edward shrugged. "When Emmett's your older brother, you learn a thing or two about party games."

"You can go first then." Jake offered.

Edward nodded once and braced himself on the bed. He selected one of the darts and sent it flying towards the board. There was a thud and some small cheers. Edward had hit just a few rows from the middle. It was better than the wall.

Jake smiled. "You're better than Bells at least."

"Hey!" I said offended as he picked fun at me. "Watch it."

"I'm just playing with you Bella." He said smiling sheepishly at me.

Jake and Edward battled it out, each round they got closer and closer to the center without ever hitting it. They were both down to one dart when Emmett walked in.

"Aw Jake you challenged Eddie. Your doomed. He's great at this game." Emmett said smiling proudly up at his little brother.

"Not doing so hot right now." Jake pointed out nodding towards the board. Emmett glanced at the board and scowled.

"Edward what the hell are you doing? I taught you better than that. Cream his ass allready."

Edward lined up his last dart and sent it hurtling towards the board. There was a thud and the room cheered as the little red feather stuck in the center of the board.

"I was building tension."

Jake used his last arrow but missed the center. The room cheered and Edward was labeled the new darts king of the seventh floor.

He jumped down from the bed and we made our way back into the hall. For the next two hours we mingled with the other dancers. Ate the food Emmett had made appear out of thin air and danced around in the hallway.

It was almost one when dancers started heading down stairs for bed and I slipped into Edward's room when no one was watching. His room was simple, all of the bed rooms were set up the same. There were no clothes on the floor and his suit case was shoved under his bed.

Edward was in the hall saying good night to everyone and letting the other dancers see that he was alone. Hopefully anyone who thought about it would think I had already gone down to bed. It felt kind of strange sneaking around, especially since we weren't doing anything but we had both agreed that we didn't want the other dancers to know how close we were.

I turned off the lights and slid under Edward's covers. The long day was catching up with me and if he didn't hurry up I was going to fall asleep before he even got in here. I stuck my nose in his pillow and smiled to myself. I should have thought about this a long time ago. His bed smelled amazing.

The door to Edward's room opened, then closed with a click. I could hear as he kicked off his shoes and then crossed the room to his bed. He rolled under the covers and I sighed as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his chest. This was nice.

I didn't remember falling asleep but I would remember waking up in Edward's room for a long time. The clock said it was almost six. Not only had I managed to sleep through the entire night but now we were late.

"Edward" I sat up quickly and shook his shoulder.

He jumped and his arms tightened around my waist as he pulled me closer to him. "What's happening?"

"We're late it's almost six."

I rolled out of bed and hurried over to the door. I could hear people in the hall, I was trapped.

"Let me check." Edward opened the door and glanced out into the hall.

"Morning Edward, you slept in today."

"I was really tired. I'll see you guys downstairs."

He shut the door quickly before anyone else could talk and shot me a sorry look. "Emmett, Jasper and Erik are all in the hall."

I rolled my eyes "Great."

He shrugged. "So we'll be a little late for breakfast. We have the morning to ourselves to work on solo's. so it's not like anyone's waiting for us."

That was right. We didn't have to be right down today. "I forgot about that."

"They should clear out in a little bit."

I wandered back into the room and sat on the edge of Edward's bed. I pulled myself back and stuck my legs under the covers, it was still warm. I yawned and Edward smirked at me.

"Sleepy?"

I shrugged and rolled my neck wincing as it cracked. "A little bit. I'm sore."

He nodded. "I know what you mean." He stretched his arms above his head and his shoulders popped. I winced at the sound.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

"Not really."

Edward joined me back on the bed and snuggled against my side. His hair was a mess and I tried to work it flat with my fingers. He groaned into his pillow and I stopped, my fingers still twisted in his strange colored hair.

"What?"

"That feels amazing." His voice was muffled by the pillow and I started moving my fingers again. His hair was really soft, I was almost jealous. I moved so I was sitting on his back and let my fingers fall from his hair to his neck.

I worked the muscles on his neck and in his shoulders until I couldn't find anymore knots. By the time I was done it was 6:30 and the hallway was empty. Edward got dressed quickly and walked me down to my room so I could change.

I pulled on some clean clothes and brushed my hair out. We were easily the last ones down to breakfast. I grabbed a bagel and some orange juice. Edward and I slid into a table where Emmett, Alice, Erik and James were sitting.

"Good morning everyone." I said happily, trying not to notice the odd looks they were throwing us.

"Morning Bella." Alice said without looking up from her paper. The others brushed off our late entrance and said their own good mornings.

"Did Dad get a chance to talk to you last night Edward?" Emmett asked Edward. I kept my eyes on my bagel but I was all ears. I hadn't been able to stop thinking about the conversation Edward and Carlisle had shared at the studio.

Edward nodded. "Yeah, he talked to me."

"What did you think?" Emmett pressed. I glanced up at him, trying to use my hair as a shield. Edward shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know."

Emmett didn't press any farther and I wanted to kick him under the table. What had Carlisle talked to Edward about? Why was it a secret? Why did I care so much? It wasn't any of my business what Edward and his father had talked about. Why did I have to be so nosey?

I ate quickly and slowly the lounge thinned out as people left to claim work space in the open studios. I dumped my things and waved quickly at Edward before heading out into the hall. I stuck my ear buds in my ears and started flipping through my music trying to find a song for my solo.

I stuck my head inside the nearest studio. Victoria was stretching in the corner, taken. The next two studios I tried were also taken. I climbed up to the fifth floor and started searching the studios there. Alice was working in the first one but the second one was empty.

I plugged my I-pod into the speaker system and was about to turn the music on when I heard something outside the open window. I crossed over to the far corner of the room and glanced out. I was high enough to see over the nearest building but not high enough to clear the city line. Just off to the side of the window was a section of roof that probably covered the warehouses for the prop and costume shops. At first I blamed the noise on a bird but then I caught sight of Rosalie.

She must have crawled out the window because she was lying on the roof. Her head phones were plugged in so she hadn't heard me enter the room and it looked like she was crying. I tried to be quiet as I climbed up onto the window ledge but she glanced in my direction anyway.

"Bella?"

I wobbled a little on the window ledge and jumped to the open patch of roof. Rosalie reached out and grabbed my arm pulled me away from the edge. I scrambled closer to her and plastered my back against the wall. I'd never been afraid of heights but the space we were sitting on was only about six foot by five foot. One wrong move and it was bye bye forever with a five story fall.

"Hi Rosalie." I said with a smile trying to dispel the shiver of fear curling in my stomach.

She hurried to wiep her face and shoved her I-pod in her pocket. "What are you doing out here Bella?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "You looked like you could use someone to talk to."

She shrugged and turned away from me, moving so her back was pressed against the wall next to mine. "I'm fine."

I nodded but didn't say anything. We sat there for a long time, Rosalie was lost in her thoughts and I waited to offer my support if she wanted it, my promise to Jasper ringing through my ears. He had asked me in secret to be there for Rosalie if she wanted to talk and that was exactly what I was going to do.

"Bella?"

I glanced over at Rosalie. She was watching her hands as she wrang her fingers together.

"Yes?"

She glanced over at me and for the first time since I met her, Rosalie didn't look confident or strong. She looked scared and almost broken. "We're friends right?"

I nodded. "I'd like to think we're friends Rosalie."

"Please, call me Rose then. The people who are closest to me all call me Rose."

The only person I could ever remember calling her Rose was Jasper.

"Ok, Rose."

She smiled. "I can talk to you right Bella?"

"Of course."

"And you wouldn't tell anyone right? I mean if I asked you not to you would keep it a secret."

She had gone back to watching her hands.

"If you asked me not to, I'd never tell anyone."

"Even Edward?" She asked looking back over at me.

I nodded. "We don't tell each other everything. I would keep it a secret if it was important to you." Like he was keeping secrets from me. It was none of my business what Edward and Carlisle had been talking about but it was the first thing he hadn't openly told me about. Then again it was also true that I hadn't openly asked him about it.

She nodded again. "Good because it involves Emmett and I don't want Edward to know about this. They're a lot closer than most of the people here know."

I nodded again. I'd sensed a strong underlying connection between Emmett and Edward. They joked around on the surface and poked fun at each other but I was willing to bet they'd take a bullet for the other if that was needed.

Rose was twisting a piece of her hair in her fingers and she chewed on her lip before continuing. "It's not really about Emmett, he's great. I'm the one with the problem and I don't know what to do about it."

"Do you think I could help?" I asked scooting closer to her.

She shrugged. "I don't know if anyone can help me. It's something I need to work through myself, but maybe having one person in the house other than Jasper to talk to would make it easier. Don't get me wrong," she added, quickly glancing over at me. "Jasper's the greatest. He's always looked after me. He's been the best older brother anyone could ask for and so much more. I never deserved all of his kindness, not after some of the things I've done to him."

She turned away from me and stared out over the city in front of us. I didn't say anything, letting her sort out her thoughts for herself. She took a deep breath and continued.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning. You know that Jasper and I are twins right?"

I nodded. That much I did know.

"He's older than me by about seven minutes. That's not a lot of time, seven minutes, but it's the base of my whole relationship with Jazz-" She paused again and giggled before glancing over at me with a small smile. "Don't call him that unless he tells you, you can. He'll say he doesn't like it but it's not true. As far as I know I'm the only one who can get away with calling him Jazz. I have ever since we were little kids.

"Anyway, he's only older than me by seven minutes, buthe's always been the big brother and I was his little sister. He protected me, and when our parents died he was the only one I had left. We took care of each other but he was the one who always held us together.

"After our parents died our whole lives changed, we got bounced around from foster home to foster home. I remember this one time Jasper had an interview with this young couple. The woman couldn't conceive and they wanted a son who was a bit older. We were probably twelve at the time. I was walking past the room they were in and I over heard them talking to Jasper so I stopped to listen. I couldn't believe what I heard, they wanted to adopt him. They were so excited about it and I really was happy for him. Jasper was everything they had been looking for in a son and they thought it was a perfect match. They had a small home in Ohio with a lot of land and apparently the man's older brother had a son about Jasper's age.

"I remember standing in the hallway, crying over the farm they told him about. It sounded like a dream home, after what we'd been through, and he was going to get to live there. Jasper asked them about me and they said they hadn't planned on adopting two children. They didn't have the money or the bed space for a second child right now. They only wanted Jasper. He said no instantly. He refused to let them adopt him because I couldn't go with him. The woman taking care of us asked him to think about, to sleep on it before he turned down their offer, but he was very quick to say that he would never leave me behind.

"He gave up a home and a family that could have been everything we had been looking for. Later that night when I asked him about his interview he simply said it hadn't worked out and that the family had decided to look at another foster home. He shrugged it off and played it up like it was no big thing for him to throw a whole future away. To this day he still hasn't told me about the family he turned down for me and he doesn't know that I know what he did for me.

"We continued moving around the states, never staying in one place too long. As soon as we turned eighteen we took off without a second thought. They couldn't keep us at the foster home against our wishes and we both had acceptance letters to go to a big school in Austin, Texas. We took jobs on campus and took out student loans. We were going to work our way through school and then get our lives under control. We could be independent now, we had each other and we didn't need anyone else to take care of us."

She shook her head and chuckled softly at something she was remembering. "I was so damned cocky."

She paused again before continuing and I had a feeling she was cutting parts out of her story for my benefit.

"Let's just say I didn't adjust to the new freedom as well as Jasper did." She glanced over at me again and I had a feeling this was where her story took a turn for the worse.

"I mentioned before that I fell in with a bad crowd. I started hanging out with the wrong kids in school. Eventually my grades started slipping and I stopped caring if they fell or not. I started skipping work and acting up. Jasper was always on my case, trying to get me to study, trying to pull me away from my new friends."

She shook her head and rubbed at her eyes. I didn't say anything, but I scooted closer to her side so she would know I was here for her. She took a deep breath before continuing with her story.

"Looking back now I know he was just trying to help, but at the time it felt like he was trying to control me. I snapped at him more than once, told him to mind his own business. I said I didn't need his help and that I didn't want him to look after me anymore. I was a big girl now and I was so convinced I knew what was best for me. The closest of my new friends and easily the worst of them all was a boy named Royce King."

She shivered next to me and I watched as she locked her jaw. She wasn't crying anymore, I couldn't see any emotion on her face other than rage. She clenched her fists and locked down her other emotions so I wouldn't see them.

"When I first met him, Royce looked like everything I wanted to be. He was independent, intelligent when it came to people, he had his own place. I thought he was living the dream life. No one told Royce King what to do. He was his own person and he made his own rules. He was so handsome and he liked me. I didn't look twice before I fell head over heels for him.

"Royce was dealing some bad things, I knew that. Contrary to what Jasper would have told you at the time I wasn't blind. It didn't bother me that Royce was dealing because I was one of his main buyers. He gave me a discount because I was his girl. He always took our group out to clubs and bars and parties. I was the trophy girlfriend and he loved going out with me on his arm. I liked it too. Royce was a bad boy and there was a lot of attraction in that after the life I'd lived before. Always having to follow rules, never having a say in where Jasper and I were shipped off to next. I liked being in control and that's what I thought I had with Royce.

"I got involved with drinking and every kind of drug you can imagine. I went easy on Emmett at that club Alice brought us to. If I had wanted to I could drink him and any other man under the table without breaking a sweat. I knew Royce had a way with people. He was a charmer and good at speaking. He twisted transactions to his advantage. He manipulated the people who worked for him and I was naïve enough to think I was immune to his power. I thought he would never pull those tricks on me.

"Jasper tried to tell me that Royce was no good.I ignored him. When he pressed me to stop seeing Royce, I snuck out of the apartment we were sharing and went out with him. The harder he pulled, the more I fought back. Jasper even tried to ban me from seeing him. I yelled at him some more and when he tried to physically stop me from going I actually struck him."

She shook her head and I saw a tear break from her solid outer control. She sniffled and continued her story without ever looking over at me. In a way I was glad she didn't look at me. I wasn't sure what emotion she would see on my face. I was in shock. I never would have guessed that this was the kind of life Rosalie and Jasper had lived and I had a feeling the worst was still to come.

"I still can't believe I actually hit Jasper. I did more damage to my hand than I did to his face, but the fact that I would strike the one person who took care of me...well I can't believe it now. After I hit him, he stopped fighting me and let me go. I ran out the door and didn't look back. I called Royce and asked him to come pick me up. I didn't have any close girl friends and I needed a place to stay the night.

"Royce came and got me and seemed only too thrilled that I wanted to spend the night at his house. I was emotionally fried and not in the mood for anything other than a hot shower and a nap. Royce wasn't as thrilled with my 'don't mess with me attitude'. He said that I needed to loosen up and forget about my brother.

"After a few drinks I was feeling better and he was feeling very relaxed. Royce and I had always had a hands on relationship but we'd never gone all the way. I was still young and the thought of giving myself to Royce, or anyone for that matter, felt like falling back into a trap. I wanted to be with Royce, I liked the fact that he was there for me, and he was an escape from my life but I wasn't ready to sign on to any level of real commitment.

"As the night wore on Royce got more aggressive and I continued to push him away. I told him that he was drunk and he should go to bed, I told him I was tired and wanted to sleep. Nothing kept him away for long. Eventually I decided going home and sneaking in my bed room window was better than staying with Royce that night. Royce didn't agree with my going home so he wouldn't drive me back to my place. That left me with only one option.

"I sent Jasper a text and asked him to come and get me because I decided fighting with him was better than staying with Royce. Jasper had needed to pick me up from Royce's house a few times so he knew where it was. Royce got angry. He said that I owed him and that it was time to pay up. I started to feel caged again so I got angry right back. I said that I didn't owe him squat and that if I wanted to go home I was going to leave. I wasn't his property and he couldn't control me.

"I knew he was wasted, and I shouldn't have pushed him so hard but by then I was tired and I didn't care. Royce was an angry drunk. He started yelling and we got into our biggest fight yet. Jasper texted me back just as things started to get more heated and it threw Royce over the edge. He hit me and said that I could leave only when he told me I could go. He said Jasper was not welcome at his home and that if I knew what was good for him I would tell him not to come over."

She snorted and flicked her hair over her shoulder. She glanced over at me and shrugged one of her shoulders.

"I bet you can guess how I handled that statement."

I nodded. If I had learned anything about Rose from this conversation it was the fact that she didn't like cages. If Royce had tried to stop her from doing what she wanted it would have gone from bad to worse. "I can imagine."

She turned away from me again and I listened intently as she continued talking.

"I pushed him back and said that I could do what ever I damned well pleased. I got my phone back out and called Jasper. I was going to ask him to step on the gas and I thought being on the phone with him would make Royce more likely to let me go. Royce was good at doing things under the table. He wasn't as bold when there were witnesses around. I never guessed how violently he would react to my disobedience.

"I never even got a chance to speak to Jazz. Just as Jasper answered my call Royce attacked me. He tackled me to the ground and my phone slid out of my reach. I started yelling and he started yelling. I tried to fight him off and I called Jasper's name hoping he would come and save me again."

She paused and glanced over at me, seeing how I was taking her revelation. I wasn't sure what she saw on my face but she nodded along and I could tell she was editing again.

"I won't go into detail about what happened. I wasn't strong enough to fight off Royce. The harder I struggled the harder he hit back. I remember crying out in pain and watching as he smiled down at me. He liked that, the sound of my pain. I didn't find out until later but Jasper heard the whole thing. He'd listened over the phone as my world came crashing down on top of me and the man I'd trusted with everything raped me.

"Jasper raced to Royce's house as fast as he could. I heard him pull up and I called out for him. I remember hearing him pounding on the door as he called out my name. Royce was so smug about it.

"'It's too late for him to save you. He'll never get in the door. You're not going anywhere.'" She mimiced Royce with a sneer on her face.

"I don't know how he did it, some combination of fear and adrenaline probably, but somehow Jasper managed to break the lock on the door. I remember hearing it crash open and Jasper tackled Royce while he was still on top of me. They rolled away and I remember trying to get up. Later I would learn that I had a broken wrist and four broken ribs but at the time it felt like everything was broken.

"Trying to sit up hurt so badly that I blacked out for a few moments. I couldn't have been out long but when I woke up Jasper and Royce had gotten to their feet. They were still fighting and I remember screaming at Royce to stop. The screaming hurt almost as bad as moving did. I was having trouble breathing.

"When I screamed out it was like they suddenly remembered I was still in the room. Royce tried to get back to me but Jasper jumped on him again. Somehow I managed to roll over and I was trying to get to my phone on the other side of the room.

"During all of the chaos, Royce managed to get his hands on the bottle of wine we had emptied earlier. He broke the bottom off against the wall and I very distinctly remember the sound of the glass shattering and the sound as it rained down on the floor around me. Despite his best effort to keep Royce away from me Jasper was losing ground and now Royce had a weapon.

"Royce lunged at me and Jasper threw himself in front of me. I remember screaming again when Royce stabbed Jasper but he didn't make a sound. I don't think he even realized what had happened right away. He was so concerned with keeping Royce away from me."

She glanced over at me and brushed her hair behind her back so that I could watch her fingers as she traced the top of her rib cage.

"Jasper has a scar on his chest, along the top of his ribs from the broken bottle. He's never shown it to anyone as far as I know. He's very self conscious about it. He's always tried to keep it hidden because when people see it they ask what happened and he holds my secret very dear to him. He doesn't like to appear weak anymore than I do and I think he still blames himself for what happened to me. He's convinced he should have done more to protect me.

"After he stabbed Jasper, Royce let go of the bottle and Jasper managed to throw it out of reach. Royce and Jasper started fighting again and I remember freaking out at all of the blood on the floor. I knew some of it was mine from before Jasper showed up. My cheek was bleeding and I had some gashes on my legs and hands from my fight with Royce but most of it was Jasper's. I remember watching as the color of his shirt slowly changed where the blood was soaking it."

I shivered. What she was describing sounded like a scene out of a horror movie. I couldn't believe she had actually lived through it and it explained why she and Jasper always seemed more distant than the others. She must have felt me shiver because she placed her hand on top of mine and squeezed it softly before continuing with her horror story.

"Royce kicked Jasper's leg out from under him and Jasper fell pretty hard. I remember being afraid that Royce would gain the upper hand while Jasper was down. Then he surprised me by running away. I was confused. I tried to get over to where Jasper was while he was trying to get to his feet. I was trying to tell him to get away while he still could and he was telling me to run away. Maybe he hadn't noticed I couldn't walk but I was having enough trouble breathing while I slid across the floor that running wasn't an option for me but I had hoped he would still be able to get back to the car.

"Royce came back and I didn't notice until it was in my face but he had brought a gun with him. He said that he was sick of me and that I was more trouble than I was worth and he would be able to replace me with someone who could keep him satisfied. He asked us who wanted to go first, like being able to decide who would die first would make us feel better. I begged him to let Jasper go and he said that he didn't take requests from whores.

"I don't really remember how it happened. Royce pulled the safety on the gun and held it to my head. I remember trying not to cry because I didn't want him to have the satisfaction of seeing how afraid I was of him. Somehow Jasper must have gotten his feet back under him because he lunged at Royce and knocked him away from me again.

"I remember screaming as the gun discharged and trying to crawl away as they fought over it. I don't know what happened next but I must have finally blacked out. I woke up screaming in a hospital with a nurse standing over me trying to hold me down as she told me I would be all right. I was sore all over and I burst into tears as soon as I remembered what happened.

"I asked her where Royce was. I told her that Jasper had been injured and he needed help or he was going to die. I wanted to know if he was ok and where he was. I didn't know where I was or how I had gotten there and there was an IV in my arm. Needless to say I was freaking out just a little bit.

"My nurse asked me to calm down. I remember yelling at her. I was so sick of people telling me what to do and now all of my frustration was attacking the one person with in range. I apologized later for my outburst but it took her close to five minutes before I would shut up enough for her to tell me she was going to get a doctor who would tell me about Jasper.

"She led a doctor into the room. I don't remember his name. The doctor told me that I was ok and I snapped at him too. I knew I was ok. I was breathing and as far as I was concerned that meant ok in my book. I demanded he tell me about Jasper and I started freaking myself out because I thought they were trying to avoid telling me about him.

"He told me Jasper was ok but I needed to talk to a couple of police officers and they were waiting outside, if I was up to it. I asked him if I could see Jazz and he said I could once he woke up. I didn't want to go back to sleep so I told him I would talk to the officers. He let in a man who introduced himself as Officer Donovan. He asked me to explain what had happened at Royce's house and asked me about Jasper's role in the attack.

"Once I was done giving my testimony he told me that Royce was dead. Apparently during the fight Jasper had gotten the gun away from Royce and ended up shooting him. The police had shown up a few moments later, Jasper had called them before he burst into the house, they brought all three of us to the hospital. Royce died later during surgery.

"The death was labeled as an accidental death and Jasper wasn't convicted because it was self defense. He had needed surgery to repair the damage done by the bottle and we both could have easily lost our lives because I was young and stupid and reclas and I should have listened to Jasper, but I didn't and now I'm finally having to face all of my fears and I don't know how to do that and it makes me feel weak and I don't like that."

She started speaking faster and faster and eventually she snapped her mouth shut and scowled at the air in front of her. I didn't know what to say so I said the only thing I could think of.

"I'm sorry Rose I-"

Apparently that was not what she wanted to hear. She glanced darkly in my direction and cut me off before I could say anything else.

"Please don't say you're sorry Bella. You couldn't have possibly done anything to stop what happened and more than anything in this world I do not want your pity. That's worse than anything else you could do to me right now."

I nodded. "I'm Sor-"

She shot me a look and I bit down on my lip before I could finish what I was going to say. She nodded when I stopped and started wringing her fingers together again. I tried a different approach. Now that her guard was down I wanted to keep her talking.

"Why are you finding this so hard to deal with now?"

She glanced back over at me. "Emmett, I really like him Bella. I haven't let myself get emotionally close to any guy other than Jasper since I was nineteen years old. Royce has me freaked out all over again and he's dead. He shouldn't still be able to control me like this."

I nodded. "So you're not sure how to get close to Emmett."

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, do you think Emmett is going to hurt you like Royce did?"

"No, he would never do that. At least I don't think he would. I just can't seem to let my guard down enough to get close to him. He's such a great guy Bella, but he deserves so much more than me. Why would he want to settle for damaged goods when he could find someone so much better than me?

"I don't think Emmett considers you damaged goods. From what I've seen, he really likes you. Maybe you're just trying to push yourself too fast. If Emmett's the right guy, then it'll work out, don't you think so?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, I thought it was going to work out with Royce too and you know how well that went."

"Have you told Emmett about Royce?"

She shook her head. "No. I don't want him to freak out. Most people don't take my story as well as you seem to be handling it. I've only told a few people the very basics of my story and they all shut me down afterwards like there was something wrong with me."

"That doesn't make any sense." What had happened wasn't Rose's fault, not entirely. She made a few bad choices but Royce was the bad guy in this story.

She smiled at me. "You're incredibly kind Bella. I can only hope Emmett will understand the same way you do if I tell him."

"If Emmett's any kind of gentleman he won't freak out. I'm no master at relationships, trust me on that. I'm having enough troubles with my own. But it seems to me like he would need to know about Royce if you wanted to move your relationship past good friends."

She nodded. "Probably, I'm just not sure I'm ready to tell him yet, but it will probably come to that."

Her watch beeped and we both jumped. She glanced down and then back at me.

"It's ten and we need to get to work on our solos. If I go home today, it won't matter what I tell Emmett because I'll never see him again."

I nodded and we both crawled back into the studio and got to work on the solo routines we hoped we wouldn't have to use for a long time.

* * *

~Darkrose

I really hope you liked this chapter. I think its one of my favorites so far. I spent a long time trying to get the emotion right for Rose's character and I'm still not sure I got it down. Let me know what you think.


	22. Two Down

Thank you to all my reviewers who enjoyed the last chapter. I was worried about it so to know that you liked it makes me feel better. This chapter was inspired by the song "Lessons Learned" by: Carrie Underwood.

My updates are going to slow down a bit now that school has started…(not as much fun as I thought it would be) and I apologize for that but I'll do my best to keep them regular. I would rather sacrifice time then post quickly and have it be really bad.

Chapter 22- Two Down

* * *

POV: Cat

"Cat, hold still I need to get your ear piece wired."

"Sorry Mark."

I stopped fidgeting as Mark helped me clip my sound box to the back of my dress and lined the cord up my back so the cameras wouldn't see it. I stuck the little ear bud in my ear and Mark tested the sound link.

"Check one, check two, can you hear me beautiful?

I turned the volume down a bit and nodded.

"I can hear you just fine. What's our time check?"

"Five minutes, you're going to start on the main stage. Look at Camera two."

I took one last spin in front of my mirror making sure my dress looked good and I hadn't messed up my hair getting wired. Tonight's dress was dark green and my hair had been curled up and pinned up. The dancers were all waiting in their dressing rooms and it was time to get this show on the road. Tonight we would be losing two of our dancers.

As I walked onto the stage the crowd cheered and I waved to the live audience. We didn't have any family's coming tonight but the seats set aside for our choreographers were full. They all wanted to get a chance to see the dancers work before they had to try teaching them.

"Ok Cat, here comes the spot light."

I winced as the bright light overhead turned on and Mark started the count down to the shows start.

"7, 6, 5, 4-"

I checked to make sure all three judges were in place. Mary was all smiles, Chris was glancing at his watch like he had better places to be and Nigel nodded in my direction when he caught my eye. The camera in front of my flashed on and I plastered a smile on my face.

"3, 2, 1, hit it."

The stage lights flew up and the crowd roared as the shows theme song started playing. I adjusted my dress one last time and flipped my mic on. I got the cue from camera one and it was time.

"Welcome everyone to our first round of eliminations. I'm Cat Deeley and this is So You Think You Can Dance"

The crowd cheered again as the camera swung over them and the stage lights flashed. When the camera stopped back in front of me I continued.

"Last night we saw our top twenty perform for the first time as a group and with their partners. Tonight three of those groups will fall into the bottom based on your votes America. But before we get to the dancers I would like to have you all join me as we welcome our-"

I paused and smiled as the crowd helped me call out the "judges".

"First we have the dashing Mr. Nigel Lythgoe Sr."

Nigel waved to the camera and I clapped along with the audience.

"-Next to him the lovely Mary Murphy."

Mary laughed and blew a kiss to the camera as it swung down to our final judge.

"-And our guest judge returning for tonight, Mr. Chris Skobel. Why don't we start with you Chris. What were your opinions of this years top twenty?"

Everyone fell silent and Chris leaned forward to speak into his mic.

"Over all I was not impressed. Maybe it was because these we all new pairs but as a hole I was expecting more. There are a few dancers who I think stand out but everyone else is going to really have to push next week."

Gosh he's harsh. I thought they did a wonderful job. Yes, it was clear they all needed more time to build a strong bond with their partners but we saw that every season. Perfection was almost impossible to reach in only one week.

"Mary what about you, were you let down?"

"No, I was not Cat."

Mary said with a big smile earning herself the cheers of her fans in the audience. Mary was usually the crowd pleaser. She was loud and her magic, none existent train was a high light for dancers and viewers every year. I nodded along as she continued.

"We have some very talented dancers here this year and I don't envy America their job of having to choose who was the worst. I have my personal favorites but I think they all did a wonderful job last night."

I nodded and waved to Nigel. "And Nigel what did you think of last nights performances?"

"I was impressed. We saw some very strong individual dancers and a couple of strong pairs. I'm looking forward to see everyone perform again."

I nodded and turned back to the camera. Nigel was the calm one. He gave good imput, critic where it was due and commented sparcly. The crowed loved to cheere for him almost as much as they loved to boo him.

I turned to carmera five. "Unfortunately for one boy and one of our girls tonight will be the end of the road. When we come back America it will be time to learn which couples have been sent into the bottom three."

The camera pulled away and I got the cue to cut. Now we had a two and half minutes break. I walked to center stage and the first three pairs walked out to stand with me. Everyone was dressed in clothes for their solos and looking like they wanted to get sick.

"Alice, Mike. I want you two here."

I pointed to the stage in front of me.

"Rose, Demetri, your next to them."

"It's Rosalie." Rose corrected me on her name and asked that on the show I call her Rosalie instead of Rose. I agreed and moved on to the next pair.

"Tanya, James. I want you two to stand here next to them. Everyone ready, we have thirty seconds."

I took my place next to the pairs and smiled as the camera flicked on and I got my cue.

"Welcome back America. I'm here with our first three pairs and we will learn now if any of them have fallen into the bottom. Alice, Mike why don't we start with you. You did a contemporary piece by Mia Michaels. Alice, Mary gave you a ticket to her Hot Tamale train and Chris thought that your performance as a pair fell flat. Did America agree with Mary, or Chris?"

I peeked down at the card and smiled to my self.

"America agreed with-"

Pause for dramatic affect.

"Mary, you are safe for this week."

The crowd cheered and Alice and Mike jumped up and down before rushing off the side of the stage. I turned back to the remaining pairs.

"Rosalie and Demetri you danced a Salsa yesterday and all of the judges agreed that as individuals you were strong but as a pair you struggled-"

I paused and turned to the next group.

"Tanya, James. Yesterday you danced to a Jazz number. One of these two pairs is in the bottom and one is safe."

I peeked down at the card in my hands and let the tension in the room build.

"The pair who is safe from tonight's elimination is, Tanya and James. Which means Rosalie and Demetri you have fallen into the bottom and you will both need to dance solo's for the judges."

The crowd cheered as Tanya and James ran off the stage. I turned back to the camera.

"When we return we will find which two pairs are joining them in the bottom three. I'm Cat Deeley and this is So You Think You Can Dance."

**POV: Bella**

I caught Rose's eye as she and Demetri walked past us on their way back stage. I couldn't believe they had fallen into the bottom. Their dance hadn't been perfect but they were both such good dancers. If someone like Rose could fall into the bottom on the first round I didn't have a chance. Edward took my hand as we walked out wit the next group of dancers.

There were four pairs of dancers on stage this time. Edward and myself, Emmett and Leah were on our left. Next to them Cat lined Jessica and Ben up and then next to them Angela and Laurent. The camera gave Cat a cue and she started talking to Angela and Laurent. She showed a clip of their dance and told them they were safe.

As she moved down the line my heart rate took off. Ben and Jessica fell into the bottom and even thought I liked them both I felt relived. There was only one spot left in the bottom and it most likely belonged to one of the pairs not on stage right now. Edward squeezed my hand as Cat talked to Emmett and Leah. Apparently the judges hadn't loved them but they were the crowd favorites from last night and had received record breaking number of votes for the first round.

I applauded along with the others as they cleared elimination and Cat moved to stand in front of Edward and I.

"Bella and Edward, you impressed the judges with your Bollywood dance and your choreographer said you stayed true to the style. Was America as impressed with you dancing or have you fallen into the bottom?"

She glanced down at the card and I wanted to yell at her to just spit it out already.

"Yes they were. You are safe from tonight's eliminations."

We got through! I spun on my toes and locked my arms around Edward's neck. He grabbed me up in a hug and spun me in a circle as the crowd cheered. When he set me on my toes I took his hand and we ran off the side of the stage to stand with the other safe groups. Alice pulled me into a hug and Emmett clapped his brother on the back as we exchanged congratulations with the other safe dancers.

Now with my own judgment out of the way and the knowledge that I was safe for another round of dancing I let myself worry about the others. Rose and Ben were both up for possible eliminations. I didn't want to lose either of them.

During the commercial break Cat called the last three pairs out to stand with her: Jane and Erik, Jake and Heidi and, Jasper and Victoria. I considered all three pairs my friends and I couldn't decide which one I wanted to fall into the bottom.

I didn't cheer with the others as the camera started rolling again and Cat started showing clips of the three pairs from last night. I thought all three pairs did well. Cat stepped forward and started talking to Jasper and Victoria.

Alice was standing just in front of me and I put my hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. She glanced back up at me and smiled.

"He'll be ok."

"You sure?"

She nodded and I felt a small weight lift from my shoulders. Alice was never wrong when it came to one of her 'feelings'. Knowing that Jasper would be safe didn't make me feel better for long. I'd come to think very highly of Jane and Erik but in truth they both fell below Jake on my list. I knew Jake didn't have a job to go home to or money for dance school, he needed this show.

Cat glanced at her card and announced that indeed Jasper and Victoria were safe. Alice bounced forward and gave them both a big hug as they joined the rest of us on the floor. I lined up and gave them both hugs to. Jasper surprised me by hugging my tight and moving his lips to my ear.

"Thank you Bella."

I pulled back a little bit and glanced up at him. Rose must have talked to him after she talked with me. He smiled down at me and nodded ever so slightly. I smiled back and winked at him

He moved past me and I glanced back up at the stage. Cat had shown clips from both groups and was glancing down at her stupid little card with all the answers.

"The group who is safe from eliminations this week is, Jake and Heidi."

I clapped along with the others and gave Jake a big hug when he joined the rest of us. Cat announced that Ben would be starting the solos after the break and I shot a look over at Jasper. He wasn't watching me and I hoped he wasn't worrying to much. I was no Alice but I had a feeling Rose would be ok. She was a strong dancer.

Cat turned back to the cameras. "There you have it America. After the break: Rosalie, Demetri, Jane, Erik, Jessica and Ben will all be dancing solo's for the judges to try and win a spot in next weeks show. We'll see you after the break."

**POV: Rosalie**

How could this have happened? I changed as quickly as I could into the dress I had set aside for my solo. I could hear Demetri changing in the next room. The dress was simple. The halter strap tied behind my head and the thin fabric stopped just below my knees.

I swapped into a strapless bra, the same dark red color as the dress and pulled on a tight pair of black ballet shorts for underneath. When I came back out to the dressing room another one of the assistants was standing with the woman who had been assigned to work with Demetri and I.

"Rosalie this is Jason he's going to help you get ready." Kristy intorduced me nodding to the other assistant.

I nodded and let him help me up into one of the tall stools standing in front of our mirrors. Jason was several inches taller then Kristy was and his hair was a bout a million shads darker then her blech blond curls. The ends of his short black hair were bleached white, giving him a frosted look. I recognized him from somewhere but I couldn't remember where I had heard of him.

"Hello Rosalie, what were you thinking hair wise?" He asked as he started running a brush through my hair.

I shrugged my shoulders and passed him a red ribbon the same color as my dress.

"Use this somehow, but other then that I don't care."

He smiled. "You are giving me permission to do what I please?" He asked with a very gay boy smile.

I nodded. "Gust keep it simple please. My solo song is slower then any of the other stuff I've done so far."

He nodded. "Your lovely hair is in very capable hands miss."

I watched on the stage screen as the other groups for the bottom were announced and was surprised at just how relived I was that Emmett hadn't fallen into the bottom. I heard someone trip outside the doorway to our dressing room and smiled when Bella stumbled her way into the small room.

"My Bella! What are you doing back here?" Jason asked as he whipped curls into my hair.

Bella smiled at him and I remembered where I had heard of Jason before. He was Bella and Edward's show assistant. "Jason, it's good to see you again." She glanced over her shoulder, cheking the hallway and then winked at us with a sly smile that didn't quite look right on her inocent face. "I'm not really here if anyone asked I just wanted to come and wish Rose luck."

She came up to my side and took my hand giving my a more friendly smile. "Are you ready?"

I nodded trying to look confident. "Yep."

She smiled. "I think you made a good song choice too. The judges will like to see another side of your dancing."

I nodded along.

"Turn your head to the left please."

I turned as Jason finished running soft curls into my hair and watched as he tied the ribbon around my head. Once he gave me his seal of approval I got up and gave Bella a hug.

"Thanks for coming back here Bella."

She nodded. "No problem, but I'm not really here remember. They wanted the dancers to stay up front if we weren't the bottom but I snuck back in anyway."

We giggled and I watched as Kristy finished brushing out Demetri's long hair and tied it back into a ponytail. I gave my partner a hug and we wished each other luck. Bella walked with me to the on deck wing and we watched from the side lines as Erik dancing his solo.

"Are you nervous?" Bella asked.

I nodded. "A little, we didn't have a lot of time to work on our solos."

She nodded. "You'll do fine, Alice has a feeling you're going to kick ass tonight."

I chuckled. "She's kind of creepy with her 'feelings'" I said wiggling my fingers as I said the word 'feelings' like somthing out of an old school horror movie. Bella nodded along.

"But she's always right so that's got to count for something."

"Good so the creepy physic girl says I'm going to do fine." I did feel a little better.

Erik finished his solo and rushed past us as he hurried to get off stage after his judging. He gave us both a big smile but didn't stop to say hi as he went back to his dressing room. Cat told the audience that I would be going after the break and my stomach jumped into my throat.

Bella must have seen my unease because she squeezed my arm in a sign of comfort. "You're going to do great Rose. Emmett and Jasper wanted me to send you their good wishes too. Will all be rooting for you."

I smiled. "Are they getting along alright?"

She shrugged. "They appear to be getting along."

That made me feel better then I thought it would. I really wanted Jasper to approve of Emmett. One of the stage hands asked Bella to go back out with the other dancers and she gave me one more hug before disappearing back out front.

Mars gave me the cue to move on stage and I walked out to center stage and sat down in the middle. I only had to wait a few moments before the camera moved onto Cat and she gave me an introduction.

"Our first female solo for the night is Rosalie. She's dancing a contemporary routine for our judges tonight."

The spot lights on Cat went out and my music started. The lights were soft blues and yellows. I slowly raised my arms about my head and started moving to the guitar. I loved this song. I had a weakness for country music. Living in the south had left its mark on me. I loved 'good' Barbecue, country music, and I was convinced the only people who knew how to season their meat lived south of the Texas boarder.

_There's some things that I regret,  
Some words I wish had gone unsaid,  
Some starts,  
That had some bitter endings,  
Been some bad times I've been through,  
Damage I cannot undo,  
Some things,  
I wish I could do all all over again,  
But it don't really matter,  
Life gets that much harder,  
It makes you that much stronger,  
Oh, some pages turned,  
Some bridges burned,  
But there were,  
Lessons learned._

I rose to my feet and spun in time with the music. I'd shown everyone that I was capable of fast dances. I was good at sexy and I didn't have a problem with vulgar moves. My hope with this solo was that the judges would see a softer side to my dancing. I would show them that I could handle anything that they could throw at me. Dancing was what I had left and this is what I was ment to do with my life.

I'd always loved contemporary dancing. I'd never had real dance lessons but for as long as I could remember I had danced to the radio in my room when no one was home. The only mistake in my life that could compete with Royce was when I had stopped dancing. Jasper had encouraged me to go back to dancing as a way of healing. It had worked so well I dragged him to the studio with me. Dancing must be genetic because he picked it up as quickly as I had. I owed everything I had left to Jasper. I never would have been able to do it without him.

_And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,  
Everyday I wondered how I'd get through the night,  
Every change, life has thrown me,  
I'm thankful, for every break in my heart,  
I'm grateful, for every scar,  
Some pages turned,  
Some bridges burned,  
But there were lessons learned._

As the music got faster I added a layer to technical difficulty to my moves, a few half tempo back flips and an aerial split. I caught Emmett watching me as I danced and he gave me a thumbs up from the audience. I felt the stupid smile that spread across my face and didn't try to wipe it away as I winked at him.

If I was really over Royce why was I having so much trouble talking to Emmett about it? A part of me wanted Emmett to know. He would never understand why I pushed him away until I told him. A more dominate part was keeping me silent. If I told him he might push me away. Emmett was such an overall good person. I didn't believe he was capable of hurting anyone. I on the other hand could hurt people, I had hurt people before. I wouldn't hurt Emmett, even if it ment hurting myself again. I'd learn to live with it.

_There's mistakes that I have made,  
Some chances I just threw away,  
Some roads,  
I never should've taken,  
Been some signs I didn't see,  
Hearts that I hurt needlessly,  
Some wounds__  
That I wish I could have one more chance to mend,  
But it don't make no difference,__  
The past can't be rewritten,  
You get the life you're given,  
Oh, some pages turned,  
Some bridges burned,  
But there were,  
Lessons learned._

The crowed started counting down my time and as they said one I struck a pose and blew a kiss at my two boys. They both smiled at me and I straighten up as cat introduced Demetri for his solo. I spun on my toes and high fives my partner as he rushed out past me to get on stage.

I slipped back stage just as his music started and moved to the larger waiting wing. Erik and Ben were both waiting there watching Demetri on a large monitor hanging from the ceiling.

"Good job Rosalie." Ben said as I joined them to watch the rest of the solos.

"Thanks."

They both flashed me small smiles and we turned back to the screen. Demetri's solo was fast and showed off his background in gymnastics. After he took his bow it was time for Jane to hit the stage. I wouldn't have believed she had it in her if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Her song was one I hadn't heard played in years "Lady is a Vamp" by the spice girls.

Jane's solo was a mix of Jazz and her own contemporary flair. She was wearing a gold dress that fit her like a glove and a pin striped vest. Her solo was as funny as it was entertaining and from the giggling I could hear in the audience I think they liked it.

I clapped with the others as Jane joined us in the back room and Jessica started her dance. Jessica's dance was nearly as humorous as Jane's but I don't think she ment it to be. Jessica had managed to squeeze herself in a pair of pants two sizes to small and a shirt with a neck line I considered low.

I didn't recognize her song but by the end of her number Jane and I were both desperately trying not to laugh at her. I was all for sexy dancing. If you had the ass for it you could make sexy dancing very technical.

Jessica didn't have the ass for it. A crew man waved us forward to go join Jessica and Cat on stage so we would be in place when the commercial break was over. Cat lined us up, boys on her left girls on her right.

I kept my eyes locked on Cat as she started talking. She welcomed America back and announced that it was time to see which two dancers the judge were sending home. Cat turned her attention over to Nigel and he asked the boys to step forward.

I clapped with the others as He asked Ben to join the others and he made it through eliminations. The judges pointed out both good and bad qualities that they saw in Erik and Demetri's dancing.

"In the end one of you must go home." Nigel said solemnly. "Demetri I'm sorry but we are going to ask you to leave us."

Demetri's head fell but he nodded as the crowd clapped for both him and Erik. Erik jumped of stage and joined the others and Demetri turned to give me a hug. If I made it through to next week I would have to start over with a new partner.

I waved good bye as he moved away to stand with Cat and the judges asked us to step forward. Jessica smiled over at me and patted my hand.

"Good luck to both of you." She whispered.

Jane smiled back up at her, the same level of false care in her voice. "Yeah you to."

Jessica rolled her eyes and their petty conversation was put to an end as Mary started talking.

"Girls, all three of you are wonderful dancers. First we would like Jane to step forward." Jane skipped forward a step and the judges praised her solo and asked her to step down and join the others.

Mary turned her attention back to Jessica and I. I was refusing to look down to where the other dancers were standing even thought I could feel several individuals staring at me. I couldn't go home already, how embarrassing. Jessica moved closer to my side and grabbed my hand as we waited for her to finish talking.

"We debated for along time about which of you would be going home and in the end it was a unanimous vote." Mary paused and I felt Jessica pat the back of my hand. "Jessica this is the end of your journey."

"What?" She dropped my hand and took a step away from me. "Me?"

I smiled at her and waved quickly. I spun around and hurried over to the edge of the stage. I didn't both with the stairs and instead chose to jump off the edge. Jasper made to grab me for a hug but another pair of arm bet him to it.

Emmett grabbed me up and lifted me off my feet. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laughed along with the others as Cat said some last farewells to Jessica and Demetri. Emmett set me back on my feet and kissed the top of my head.

I smiled up at him and kissed his check. Another strong hand took mine and Jasper spun me around to give me his own hug. I jumped at him and almost knocked us both to the ground. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with Emmett but at least now I had another week to try and figure it out._

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_

~Darkrose

Read and review. Let me know what you think. I find that, out of all of the twilight characters, Rosalie is the hardest for me to write. I hope you feel I did her justice.


	23. Shopping, Secrets, and Spock?

I'm sorry this took so long to get up. I don't know if anyone else was having trouble uploading chapters to fan-fic but I've been trying to upload for three days and it wasn't working so now I got two up in one day. Woot!

This chapter is dedicated to a new reviewer by the name "Danielleee " who has just started reading this story. I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderfuly kind review. It made my day and I'm glad you like the story so much.

OVER 200 REVIEWS!!! HAVE I TOLD YOU GUYS HOW MUCH I LOVE ALL OF YOU LATELY?!?!?! … Sorry about that. I'm better now. I needed to get that little spazz out of my system. ..(Deep breath)… all better now.

Chapter 23- Shopping, Secrets, and Spock?

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POV-Bella

Breakfast was oddly quiet Friday morning. It was really starting to set in that Demetri and Jessica were gone. Rosalie and Ben had hooked up as partners for the next round of competition and we were all waiting for Cat to call us downstairs. We would learn what style of dance we would be dancing to next week.

I yawned and Edward smiled at me from across the table. Emmett had been in Edward's room last night for whatever reason so either one of us could arrange to fall asleep in the others room. I picked at my food for a while not really feeling like eating right now.

Rose was sitting to my left and she hadn't said more then two words all morning. She was slowly shredding her role completely lost in her own world. Alice was on my right and she was unusually quiet as well. Jasper was on Edward's right and he had been avoiding eye contact with everyone all morning.

Emmett and Leah were the only ones who didn't seem phased by yesterday's eliminations and they were currently arguing over wither or not chocolate milk could be considered a breakfast food.

"It's milk, that means it's good for you." Emmett argued, downing what was left of his own chocolate milk.

"Its got chocolate in it." Leah argued back holding up her own glass of white milk. "It's not a breakfast food. You should drink it with desert or diner."

"What have you got against chocolate? I thought girls considered chocolate to be the eighth wonder of the world."

"I'm not PMSing right now for your information, and I didn't say that chocolate wasn't amazing or that it didn't have magic powers, just that you shouldn't have any for breakfast."

"You're not my mother." Emmett said poring more chocolate milk into his cup.

Leah rolled her eyes and angrily stabed at her eggs. "No shit, Thank god for that but, I'm willing to bet your mother didn't let you have chocolate for breakfast."

"You would win that bet." Edward said taking a drink of his orange juice and shooting a smug grin at Emmett who was glaring at him.

Their argument was cut short as the door to the lounge swung open and a crew man asked us all to head down to the auditorium so they could film us drawing cards out of the hat. Everyone got up and trooped down stairs.

We were lined up on stage with our partners and Cat came on stage holding the famous hat. One by one she called groups forward and they drew a slip from the hat. Alice almost died when Mike picked lyrical Jazz. Leah looked ready to strangle Emmett when he pulled Broadway and then it was time for Edward to draw from the hat.

I followed along behind him as he walked up to Cat and held my breath as he reached into the hat. He pulled a card out and peeked under the flap so I couldn't see it. He smiled up at Cat and then over at me. I tried to grab the card from him but he pulled it away and let the top fall down so I could see the word printed on it.

"Hip-Hop"

"Yes!" I clapped my hands and jumped at Edward when he opened his arms to give me a hug. It didn't take long for the rest of the pairs to draw their styles. Cat smiled at the camera and said a short good bye before we got the cue that the cameras were off.

Cat spun around to face us. "Your choreographers will be here tomorrow to start work on your next dance. You have today off to do what ever you would like. The bus is going to make a few trips into town if you want to go shopping. Anyone who goes into town must go with a group and every group needs a guard. Good job last night everyone."

She walked off stage and everyone started to wonder off on their own. Alice bounced over to my side.

"Bella, Rosalie and I are going into town. Your coming with us so go get changed."

Edward popped over to my side. "Mind if I tag along?"

Alice shook her head at him. "No boys aloud, you can have her back later."

Edward pouted and Alice laughed at him. "Edward I have the pout look perfected your going to have to try something better then that." She patted him on the head and grabbed my arm. Edward waved as I stumbled along after Alice down the stage stairs and I shot him an apologetic smile.

Alice didn't let me go until we were in the hall up on the sixth floor. She let herself into my room and pulled open my dresser.

"Alice what is this all about?"

She tossed me a pair of jeans and started riffling through my shirts.

"This is about getting out of this house and having some fun. No cameras, No dancing, and no boys." She tossed me one of my shirts and sat hard on the end of my bed. She rubbed at her eyes and then at her neck.

"You look beat." I commented as I started changing into the outfit she had picked out.

She shrugged. "I'll live."

"Is every thing ok with Mike?"

She rolled her eyes. "Mike is an idiot."

I laughed and tugged the new t-shit over my head and into place. It was one of my personal favorites. I had a weakness for plaid patterned things. "I take it the two of you are not getting along." I said remembering what Edward had said about not thinking that Alice and Mike were meshing together as well as they made it look like they were.

She snorted and tossed me my hair brush. "Mike only gets along with his own voice. He's cocky without earning it and I would really enjoy strangling him."

"Your partnership with him is only temporary." I said trying to make her feel better.

She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "They only paired me up with him in the first place because he's one of the shortest guys on this season. I'm perfectly capable of dancing with taller boys." I rolled my eyes when she wasnt looking. No, Alice was good at dancing with Jasper. The other boys would trip over her.

I brushed my hair and grabbed Alice's hand. "Let's go shopping. It will take your mind of Mike."

Alice smiled halfheartedly and nodded along as I led her into the hall. "Shopping is a good thing."

We found Rose waiting for us in the lobby down stairs. She smiled at me when we reached her and I was glad to see that she looked happier. She caught sight of Alice next to me, how did not look happier, and raised an eye brow at me. I shrugged my shoulders and let her led us outside.

The bus was waiting in front of the studio and a few of the crew man were standing near it. As we approached the bus a girl, in crew black, skipped to our side.

"You ladies want to go into town?"

Rose nodded and gave her our names. She marked down our names and introduced us to a man named Leroy. Leroy reminded me of a slightly smaller, slightly shorter, milk chocolate version of Mars. He rolled his eyes at the girl and moved closer to us.

"How many times do I have to tell you people, it's Leo. Leroy is a ridicules family name. I'll be your body guard for the after noon."

I smiled at him. "Nice to meet you Leo. I'm Bella" I pointed to Alice. "That's Alice." I nodded at Rose. "And that's Rosalie."

Leo sat with us on the bus and we were joined by one other group of dancers. Alice cheered up a bit as we started driving past bigger stores. We passed a giant casino and this place was starting to look more and more like the Las Vegas I'd seen on post cards.

The bus dropped us off in the middle of a giant shopping center and people stared as we got off the bus. The bus drove away and Leo tried to make himself invisible as he followed along behind us as we walked down the road.

"We have to go to that one. It's one of my favorites." Alice said pointing to a giant store across the street. Rose nodded along in agreement and I shrugged my shoulders. I hadn't recognized any of the story names on this street. I started walking towards the cross walk and Alice jumped into the road.

"Alice!" She skipped into the middle ducked behind a car whose driver hadn't even seen her and hopped up onto the curb on the other side.

She waved at us quickly before ducking into the store. I glanced at Rose who shrugged her shoulders and jumped into the road. I watched, wide eyed as she paused momentarily leapt between two cars and safely made it to the other side.

Leo glanced down at me and I shook my head. "No way in hell. I'm going to the cross walk."

I came from a big town but I'd never mastered the art of playing brave duck. I was good at tripping over my own feet and the thought of dodging around traffic didn't appeal to me. Leo walked with me to the end of the block and we waited for the light to change and then walked across the street like normal people.

Alice and Rose already had their arms loaded with cloths when we walked in and I watched Leo take up a spot in the corner near the door so he could watch us from the safety zone. Rose came to my side and handed me a bright yellow dress.

"Try that on."

She walked away before I could say anything so I huffed and walked to the dressing room. I chose one of the changing stalls and slipped inside so I could try the dress on.

"Bella?"

I saw Alice's feet apear under the edge of the door.

"Yes Alice?"

"Open up, I've got more for you to try on."

"I can pick out my own clothes."

I could practically hear Alice role her eyes. "Open the door."

I grumbled but cracked the door open and took the pile of things she wanted me to try on. I was half way threw the pile before I caught sight of the price tag on one of the dresses Alice had given me. Oh hell no.

"Alice what the hell is this."

I walked out of the changing room where Rose and Alice were sitting. They had been commenting on each of the dresses as I tried them on.

"What is what?" Alice asked as I jumped out of the changing room only half in the next dress.

"This price tag Alice. Who actually spends this much on a dress?"

Alice rolled her eyes and Rose came over to my side and checked out the tag. Rose shrugged "I once spent that much on a pair of sun glasses Bella."

My mouth fell open. "That's ridiculous. You could feed a third world country with that much money. Forget it."

Alice had her hands on her hips, looking thoroughly displeased.

"Bella relax would you. I've got it covered."

What?!? She thought I would let her buy this thing for me? Was she crazy?

"Alice I'd never let anyone spend that kind of money on me."

Alice ran a hand through her short hair and cut me off. "Bella did you even look at the name of this store?"

I shook my head. "I didn't recognize it, why?"

Rose must have caught on to something I was obviously missing because she turned on Alice so fast I'd have gotten whip lash.

"No bitching way!"

Alice smiled and nodded at Rose. "Yes way."

"I can't believe that! This is so cool Alice. I love this store there's one in Austen."

Alice rolled her eyes. "I know that."

I was beyond lost. What the heck were they talking about?

"What is going on?" I asked, slipping back into my changing room to try and get out of the dress that would have paid for a very small car.

"Bella this store is called Brandon's Boutique. Everyone knows this store." Rose said, eyes wide with a big smile on her face.

I rolled my eyes. I didn't know this store. "That name means nothing to me, you guys. I've never heard of it before. I don't think there's one in Phoenix."

"Yes there is. It opened last year." Alice said leaning against the door to my changing room, looking at me like I was missing the punch line to the biggest joke of the year.

I got the dress off and hung it neatly back on its hanger.

"I don't care what the store is called. No one should spend that much on a dress and your not buying it for me." I said shooting them both a look and pulling my T-shirt back on.

"You just have no sense of fashion." Rose said that same big smile on her face. She spun on Alice. "Can I take a picture of you and send it to one of my friends back home, she'll just die when she finds out I got to meet you."

"Of course Rose."

I glanced at Alice and handed her the dress back. Alice took it from me and draped it over her arm. "I'm still getting it for you Bella."

"What? Alice-"

She cut me off. "Bella what is the name of this store?"

"Brandon Boutique." I said trying to grab the dress out of her arms. She hugged it to her chest and jumped away from me.

"Alice, give it to me."

"No." She said stubbornly, shaking her head. "I can't believe you haven't put two and two together yet B. Rosalie was a million times faster then you."

I stopped in my tracks and scowled at her. "Put what together?"

"Bella?" Rose came up to my side and draped an arm over my shoulders. "You know that all big fashion stores have a head quarts right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes"

"Where are most of the clothing headquarters located, if the store has any sense at all?" She asked. Talking slowly like someone would talk to a small child.

I shrugged my shoulders so she answered the question for me. "New York has all of the best ones."

"So" I asked making another grab for the dress Alice was holding hostage.

Alice stood in front of me and pointed at herself, making sure to keep just out of my reach as Rose held me in place. "Bella what's my last name?" She asked honestly.

"Bran-" I stopped cold, the little light went off and I felt like an idiot. Alice was from New York, Alice was big on fashion, and Alice's last name was Brandon. Holy Crow! "This is your store?!?"

Alice shook her head. "I'm only nineteen of course it's not mine. My mom and aunt run the company. We have six of them in major cities all over the country."

Rose let me go and I glanced out to the main section of the store. It did look like something Alice would like. A lot of the clothes on display were similar to things she wore around the studio. I glanced back at Alice who was gathering some of the things I had tried on and adding them to a pile of things she was getting for herself. She was still planning on buying me that dress.

I grabbed the dress and pulled it away before she could stop me. "Alice you can't buy this for me its way to much."

She put her hands on her hips and pointed to the pile of clothes she was keeping. "Put it back."

"Alice."

"Bella don't ague with me. I don't have to pay full price and I want to get it for you. Money's never been a problem for me. Please Bella, please." She pulled out the pouty face. "Let me get it for you."

I felt myself giving in and scowled darkly at the small girl in front of me. Alice really did have the perfect pouting face and I was putty in her hands. I glanced down at the dress and shied. "Fine."

Alice jumped to my side and took the dress away. "Thank you Bella, you won't regret it. I promise you. Rosalie, give me your things to and I'll go take care of it."

Rosalie glanced at the things she was holding. "Oh, Alice no. That's ok. I-"

"Don't you dare start." Alice snapped grabbing her pile and taking it all up to the counter. She talked to the man working there and showed him a fancy black card. He grabbed a phone and confirmed Alice's Identity.

"Miss Brandon what a pleasure it is to have you here. I hope everything is to your satisfaction." The man asked once he was sure Alice was who she said she was.

Alice smiled politely at him. "Yes, we are very happy."

"May I ask what brings you to town ma'am?"

Alice nodded in our direction. "I'm just hanging out with some of my friends."

"Pass my best wishes on to your mother."

Alice nodded. "Will do."

After he had ringed everything up and swiped Alice's store card the total price still would have given me a heart attack but it was far more reasonable then it would have been. Alice got all of our things packed into different bags and soon we were ready to go with Leo in tow.

We hit up a few more stores and found a small café to eat lunch in. A few people stared at us but, no one got close enough to worry Leo. We made Leo sit with us during lunch and demanded he let us treat him after making him help carry our bags around the city.

"What should we do after lunch?" Rose asked sipping at her coffee.

Alice shrugged. "I'm up for pretty much anything."

"We should take our bags back to the bus. If were done shopping." I suggested.

"The bus is coming back in half an hour." Leo said glancing down at his watch.

Alice nodded along and we finished eating. We got to the bus drop off point just in time. We loaded our bags up on it and promised to take them off when we were ready to head back to the studio. We got back off and just started walking where ever we felt like going.

"Now what?" Rose asked.

"How about twenty questions?" I offered. We'd been talking all day but I still didn't know to mucha bout my two new friends.

"I get to go first." Rose said raising her hand and jumping.

Alice giggled and I nodded along. "Shoot."

She pointed at me. "What is your relationship with Edward? And don't say you don't have one because thats bull."

I hesitated. Maybe this was a bad idea. Rose cracked an evil smile when I didn't answer her right away and I knew I was doomed. "Were just good friends." I said not looking her in the eye.

"You totally like him." Rose said pushing for more information.

Alice giggled and I shot her a dark look. Alice was the only one in the house who new that Edward and I were staying in each others rooms. It wasn't liked he'd even asked me to be his girlfriend yet. We'd admitted to liking each other but we were trying to keep our relationship on the quiet side.

I shrugged my shoulders and blushed hopping Rose wouldn't push for more information.

"Ok, Bella it's your turn." Alice said drawing the attention off of me and Edward.

I smiled at her and thought about my question. "Alice, what's your most embarrassing obsession?"

She giggled and fished into her back pocket. "You guys can't tell anyone ok."

Rose and I nodded as Alice pulled her wallet out of her pocket. She flipped it open to a picture of her with a small gray cat laying in her lap. There was snow outside and the view of the city from her apartment windo made me envious.

"Oh, Alice he's so cute." Rose said smiling at the picture.

Alice nodded. "He's my baby boy. I've had him for almost six years now."

"How is that embarrassing?" I asked turning my eyes back to the cat. There was nothing embarrassing about having a cat. He was so cute.

She flipped the picture closed and slipped it back into her pocket. "His names Spock." Rose raised an eye brow at her and I burst into a full out giggle fit.

"Like the Vulcan from Star Trek?" I ask.

She nodded and actually blushed. "I love that show but The Next Generation is way better then the first one." Alice was a Trekkie!

Rose giggled along and then pointed at Alice. "Ok your turn." Alice thought for a second and then nodded at Rose. "Do you have any embarrassing obsessions like my kitty?"

Rose's smile faltered for a second before she nodded. "I love Eeyore, the donkey from Whinny the Pooh. If you tell anyone that I'll hurt you and not feel sorry about it."

"Oh he's so cute." Alice said nodded along.

Rose nodded at me. "What about you Bella. You must love something your embarrassed about."

I bit my lip. I loved a lot of things that most people found kind of funny but, I did have one that was pretty bad. I pulled out my I-pod and flipped threw my playlists. I selected one all the way at the bottom and handed it to Rosalie.

"I love N'SYNC. I have all of their songs."

Rose flipped threw the list of songs. "Wow I haven't even heard of half of these."

"How can you like them?" Alice asked taking my I-pod from Rose and running through the list. "The Backstreet boys were so much better then these guys."

I felt my jaw drop. "The Backstreet Boys were awful."

"They were better then these guys." Alice said tossing me my I-pod back.

I opened my mouth to argue but Rose cut us off. "They were both bad, want-a-be, never-where, boy bands. Bella it's your turn now."

I tucked my I-pod away and tried to think of a good question to ask Alice. I smiled evilly as the perfect question popped into my head. I almost felt bad for asking it, since it was none of my business. Almost. She insulted my favorite bad boy band so I was intiteled to some revenge.

"Alice?" Alice glanced up at me.

"Yes Bella?"

"Have you kissed Jasper yet?"

She faltered for a second and I saw Rose shoot her a look I couldn't quite read. I couldn't get myself to feel bad about prying. Alice glanced sideways up at me and then over at Rose. She folded her arms across her chest and watched her shoes.

"No, I thought he liked me but he's gotten kind of distant lately. We havn't even spoken since the show last night."

Now I felt bad for prying. Rose hung her head and Alice was refusing to look up from the ground. Why hadn't I just kept my big mouth shut?

"I'm sorry Alice." Rose looked over at Alice. "It's my fault he's being so distant with you."

Alice raised her eye brows and I felt twice as bad now. I'd practically just forced Rose to tell Alice her story. Rose loved Jasper and now she would feel guilty about Alice.

"How is that your fault?" Alice asked. "He doesn't trust me. I-"

Rose shook her head. "No Alice, please don't think like that. He really cares about you. I know he does. I've never seen him smile so much as he does when he's with you."

Alice smiled up at her. "Really?"

Rose nodded. "Really. I need to talk with him. It's not fair that he should keep himself away from you because of me."

"I thought it was me." Alice admitted wrapping her arms around her waist. "He's a few years older then me, I just figured he wasn't that interested. I'm nothing special."

"Alice don't you dare start talking like that. And, we're not that much older then you are." Rose added with a grin trying to cheer Alice up. Alice rolled her eyes.

"I won't even turn twenty until October Rosalie."

"We're only turning twenty-three in November. That's not that big a difference. A few years doesn't make any difference. Besides, I'm pretty sure you drink more then Jasper does already."

Alice nodded and a grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I don't know. There are times when he seems so open and then I'll ask him something and he shuts down."

Rose frowned and hooked an arm around Alice pulling her closer to her side. "Can we talk about this later Alice, back at the studio? Please. I know why Jaspers being so distant and I'm sorry it's my fault."

Alice glanced up at Rose and then shot a glance over at me. I nodded hoping Alice would say yes. She did. "Sure Rosalie."

"Please call me Rose, Alice. Thats what my friends call me." Alice smiled and nodded.

"Ok Rose."

We wondered around for another hour, our game of twenty questions forgotten. By the time the bus came back my feet hurt and I felt like taking a nap. I sank into the seat behind Leo and Alice sat with Rose behind me.

"Thanks for walking around with us all day Leo." Alice said shooting a big smile at our body guard.

Leo nodded. "Let me know the next time any of you are heading out into the city and I'll go with you."

"Have you every really had anyone try and mob the dancers?" Rose asked curious. At first I thought it was kind of ridicules. Who would want to jump a dancer on a reality show? Then I thought about some of the articles I'd read about actors and singers getting mobbed. I guess if people were really obsessed with the show seeing the dancers on the street would be like walking past Johnny Depp. I'd probably jump Johnny Depp if I walked past him on the street.

He nodded. "I've had to pull fans off of the dancers a few times. It generally doesn't happen until later in the season, once everyone knows the dancers more. But, the show is getting so popular they don't want to take any chances."

The bus dropped us off and we dragged our bags inside. Rose excused herself once we got to the sixth floor and promised she would be back later. Alice came into my room with me and helped me unpack my new clothes.

"What do you think she was talking about Bella? What could possible be so big that Jasper can't tell me?" Alice asked me as we cut price tags off some of the things I had gotten.

I kept my eyes on my hands and shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Alice folded her arms over her chest. I glanced up at her and regretted it. She was scowling at me and she looked hurt. I felt guilty just sitting next to her.

"You're keeping something from me. I can tell that you know. I'm not stupid, Bella."

"I didn't say you were stupid Alice. It's not my place to tell you."

She huffed. "Did Jasper talk to you? Why am I the one out of the loop?"

"Not really Alice. I accidently overheard something that wasn't any of my business. Please don't make me tell you Alice. It's not my place."

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out making her bangs move. She looked hurt and dejected but she didn't look mad.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you Bella."

"It's ok Alice."

She shook her head. "No its not."

There was a knock at my door and I jumped to go answer it. Rose was standing in the hall with Jasper.

"Is Alice in here?" Jasper asked.

I gave him a soft smile and nodded. "Yeah, come on in." He moved around me and moved so he was standing next to Alice.

"Alice can we talk?" He asked.

Alice glanced over at where Rose and I were still standing in the door way.

"Sure Jasper."

He took her hand and helped her down from the bar stool she was sitting in. I gave him an encouraging smile as he walked past me and he surprised me by giving me another hug.

"Thank you for everything Bella. You've helped more then you know."

I smiled at him and he left with Alice in tow. I gave Rose a quick thumbs up as she followed after them and they disappeared into Rose's room.

I glanced back at my bags and decided that they could wait until later to be unpacked. I was at the other end of the hall but I still felt like I was intruding, knowing what Rose and Jasper were telling Alice.

I slipped onto the stair well and decided to try and find Edward. When he wasn't in his room I decided to play a game of where's Waldo. Only my Waldo was far more attractive and probably not wearing a red hat.

I searched through the studios on the fifth, fourth and third floors. Checked out the lounge, the auditorium, the prop shop and the costume shop but couldn't find him. I was just heading back up stairs when the door to the fourth floor burst open and Emmett came hurtling into the stair well.

"Emmett!"

"Shit!"

"Look out!"

He crashed into me and we both tumbled down a short flight of stairs. Emmett locked his arms around me as we fell and I landed on top of him. The air had been knocked out of me and I hit my head against Emmett's chest.

"Bella!"

Another pair of arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me to my unsteady feet. I wobbled for a second and took a deep breath. Emmett ground at my feet and I glanced down at him.

"Are you ok Emmett?"

He pushed himself up to his elbows and nodded, rubbing at his head.

"I'm ok Bell. Are you hurt? I'm sorry about that." He shot an accusing glare over my shoulder. "Someone was chasing me."

I glanced back at Edward and had to bit down on the inside of my check to keep from laughing. Edward was covered in fluffy white feathers. They were in his hair, sticking to his shirt and now, thanks to the fact that he was holding me, covering the left side of my body.

He followed my eyes as I looked at the feathers on me and took a step back. "Sorry Bella." He kicked Emmett in the leg. "Someone thought it would be funny to spray me with feathers." He shot a dark glare at Emmett.

Emmett shrugged and pushed himself to his feet. "I did say I was sorry about that Edward. I was ment for Jake. You sprigged it early."

I started laughing. My head hurt, feathers were sticking to my side and I noted that Edward must have also been sprayed with something sticky because the feathers were not falling off when he moved, and it was all so funny. Emmett took a step away from me and gave me a curious look that only made me laugh harder.

"Did you hit your head Bell?"

I shrugged, still giggling to myself. "I do that all the time."

"You should get changed." Edward said trying to pull some of the sticky feathers off my side. I nodded and pulled one out of his hair.

"You should too."

Emmett jumped down a few steps. "You two have fun with that and I would suggest not trying to wash off in the shower, those feathers will just clog the drain." He jumped down a few more steps and vanished.

"We're going to get him so bad." Edward said darkly under his breath.

I nodded along and pulled another feather out of his hair. "Let's swing by my room so I can grab some clean clothes and I'll help you get those out of your hair while we plan our revenge."

He nodded and we started heading up the stairs. "What did you girls get back from town?"

"Just a little while ago. I was actually looking for you when I ran into Emmett."

"Looks like you found me."

I nodded. "Yes I did. I just have one quick question for you. How did you manage to get covered in feathers?" I bit down on my lip to keep from giggling at him. He looked like an extremely irritated, drop dread handsome, green eyed rooster.

He smirked at me, my favorite smile, and opened the door to the sixth floor. "I'm not really sure how it happened."

* * *

~Darkrose

I hope you all liked this chapter. I wanted to move Alice and Jasper relationship along a bit and that couldn't happen without her getting in the loop. I got super inspired and figured you guys disserved another update after how long the last one took to get up.

And just in case anyone was wondering about the feather prank Emmett pulled on Edward, I've actually done this one and it sucks big time. You hide and wait for whoever you're planning to prank. Then you spray them with cooking spray or bubble soap, anything that's sticky but not harmful and then you whap them with a ripped pillow and run like hell.

They get covered in feathers and it's a pain to get them off and you can't use a shower because it really dose plug the drain. I suggest jumping in a lake that's the easiest way to clean it off and it ruins their clothes so be carful.


	24. All kinds of Plans

The newest season of "So You Think You Can Dance" just started. I can't wait to see what happens. Obviously I'm a big fan of the show or this story never would have happened. I hope you'll all check it out. Evan's brother made it to Vegas!!! I can't wait to see if we'll get our first tap dancer in the top twenty.

Chapter 24- All kinds of Plans

* * *

POV- Bella

"Edward I'm pretty sure this shirt is history."

We had his shirt soaking in his bathroom sink but the sticky stains on it were soaked threw and it wasn't coming clean. Edward peeked into the bathroom and glanced down at the helpless shirt. He shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Go ahead and throw it out. I'll make Emmett replace it later."

I pulled his shirt out of the sink and rang it out as best I could. I dumped it in his trash can and made my way back over to his side. He hadn't pulled a new shirt on because he didn't want to wreck another one and I was enjoying the view of his sculpted back, even if there were still feathers sticking to him.

Edward was standing in front f his mirror trying to pull the feathers out of his hair. He tugged at a part of his hair and winced.

"Here let me help."

I pulled him over to the bed and stood on my knees behind him so I could pick at the feathers which were almost slicked into his hair with oil. I'd already changed out of my feathery clothes and tossed them in a washer down the hall to get clean. Edward sat down with a grumble and I started pulling a comb threw his hair working the sticky feathers out.

There were feathers on the floor all around his room and we had left a nice little trail of them up the stairs and down the hall. It looked like a chicken was loose in the building somewhere. The cleaning crew for this building probably hated us. If it wasn't pie on the walls it was flour on the floor and when it wasn't flour we cut up pillows and beat each other with them! I bet we were the messiest group of dancers this show had ever seen.

"So have you had any thought on how to get back at Emmett?" Edward asked as he fidgeted under my hands. His hair was just long enough that it was knotting in the sticky stuff and making it hard to work the feathers out without yanking to hard.

"A few yes but, we have to make sure to hit Alice at the same time. It won't be completely satisfying if we don't get both of them."

"Sorry" I added when he flinched under my hands.

"I'm ok, I wouldn't mind getting Jake too if were going to go all out." Edward added with a smirk.

I thought back to my last big conversation with Jake and how he had seen me naked. I definitely wouldn't mind getting him too. Stupid punk, he had to know how much black mail I had on him. I could make his life very miserable if I wanted to.

"What about a little taste of their own medicine?" I asked as inspiration struck me like a bolt of lightning. One brilliant flash and I had a great idea. We would get them with their own pranks and make then all look like idiots. And we would get it on tape and make sure it was aired all over the country! I felt so evil and I was positive an evil little smirk was pulling on the corners of my mouth.

Edward glanced up at me and grinned when he saw my expression. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

I sat down on my heels and waved my hands out. "Look at all of the pranks they've already done to us, the pie launcher, the flour bomb, these sticky feathers. Let's find a way to mix them all up and make it one big prank. We can get all of them and top it off as the best prank so far."

He nodded. "You're far sneakier then I thought you would be Bella. If this works I'm going to name you the prank queen."

"I thought you liked surprises?" I asked with a flirty smile.

"I do and you keep turning out to be quite surprising."

"If this works would you become the prank king?" I asked.

He nodded. "If it's big enough, yes. I look forward to knocking Emmett off his thrown."

"And stealing the crown." I added getting back to my work.

I grabbed a towel and tried whipping some of the sticky stuff out of his hair. "You could probably jump in the shower now. I got most of the feathers out and this sticky stuff smells kind of funny. You're going to have to lather rinse and repeat twice to get it all out."

"I think its cooking spray." Edward said standing up and glancing at himself in the mirror. He ran one of his hands through his sticky, grease hair and grimaced. He sniffed at his fingers and his frown deepened. "That or bubble soap."

"How exactly did this happen anyway?" I asked, curiosity winning over.

He shrugged. "I was trying to find Emmett when it happened actually. I walked through a doorway down stairs and tripped over something I hadn't seen. My legs got all tangled and then they started spraying me. I think they noticed I was the wrong person but didn't want to waist their prank so they just got me instead."

"Who's they? I only saw Emmett in the hall with you."

"Leah, she was working with him. She was the one who hit me with the pillow. By the time I got to my feet she had run off down another hall and I turned on Emmett."

"We should add her to the hit list."

He nodded. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Mind if I stay here and hide? I'd rather not run into Emmett right now and if Alice finds me she's going to make me go back to my room and unpack our clothes."

He shook his head with a grin and grabbed some clean clothes from his dresser. "Go ahead, I'll be right out."

"No hurry."

He disappeared into the bathroom and I lay down on his bed. I wasn't sure where Emmett or Alice had gotten the things they needed for their pranks and I couldn't ask them without raising suspicion. Edward and I would have to snoop around over the next few days and try to track everything down.

I found a piece of paper and a pen and started making a list of everything I could think off. The hardest part wasn't going to be finding everything we would need to pull off the prank. It was going to be hard getting all four of them in one place at the right time.

Edward came out of the bathroom an hour later still frowning. He sat down on the bed next to me and glanced at my list.

"Add a one way ticket to Cuba for Emmett and were all good."

I smirked and added it to the end of the list with a little smiley face next to it. Edward pulled at his hair again and found. "What's wrong Edward?"

"It won't come out, my hair is still nasty."

I took the towel he was holding and whipped at his hair trying to whip it clean. You could definitely feel the oil from the spray still in his hair. Edward sat still as I worked, the frown still set on his face. Granted, he still looked like a pouting Greek statue but I didn't like seeing him so upset. It reminded me of the face he had worn after his talk with Carlisle.

"Edward?"

"Yes Bella?"

I was glad he couldn't see my eyes but I had a very Alice like suspicion that he was upset about more then just his hair. I doubted he was really this bummed out about his hair being messy.

"Is something bothering you?"

"Emmett" He said quickly and I rolled my eyes at the back of his beautiful, sticky head.

"I meant other then Emmett."

He shrugged. "It's nothing Bella."

"No" I disagreed, tossing the now dirty towel away and laying down on my side next to him. "It's not nothing, or it wouldn't be bothering you so much. You've seemed kind of out of it since Carlisle talked to you after the show on Wednesday."

He watched me and I tried to read the different emotions playing across his face. The good news is he wasn't frowning anymore. The bad news was the he looked confused. He looked up at me and leaned back against his head board.

"You're very observant." He stated without answering my question.

I rolled onto my back and folded my arms under my head so I could look at him.

"Not hardly, I just know you very well."

"Very well." He agreed.

I smirked at him but he wasn't looking at him. He shied and ran a hand through his hair. He pulled his hand away from his head and gave a grossed out look at it before whipping his fingers off on another towel. He was going to have to shower again to get the oil all out of his hair.

"You don't have to tell me Edward." I said slowly catching his eye when he looked down at me. "But you can if you want to talk about it. You know that right?"

He nodded slowly. "I know that Bella."

He moved so he was lying on his stomach next to me. "It's not like there's anything you can do about it. Carlisle and I had been talking about it for a few years now and he-"

"Talking about what?" I asked confused but glad that he was willing to talk to me.

He rubbed at his face and smiled at me. "Medical school."

"You're going to med school?" I smiled up at him. Edward had told me once he loved studying medicine. His father was a doctor. I knew Edward had taken some pre med classes. He would make such a wonderful doctor. "That's so exciting Edward, congratulations."

He shrugged. "It's not official yet. I've been thinking about applying for awhile but I never actually did. Carlisle's been talking to some of his old doctor friends for me and he's found a few schools that are willing to give me some pretty big scholarships." He shrugged again and rested his forehead against his arms. "Carlisle has a lot of pull in the medical field and nothing would please him more then me going to med school."

I nodded along. From what I'd learned from Edward and Emmett about their father nothing would make him happier then one of his sons becoming a doctor. Carlisle was making some big waves in the world of medicine with a breakthrough in open heart surgery. He loved helping people and he was good at what he did.

Edward glanced over me at the clock on his bedside table. It was almost six.

"Are you hungry? We should head down to diner."

I nodded and rolled to my feet. "We'll have to be carefull to keep plan Switzerland a secret." I said in a whisper, folding up the list of paper and tucking it in my pocket. "I figured we could snoop around and try to find some of the things we'll need around the studio. We can hide them in my room since no one will suspect me and chances are good Emmett won't spend a lot of time in there."

He shook his head. "Alice is just as cunningly sneaky as Emmett is and she will spend a lot of time in your room. We should look for a hiding spot somewhere in the house to store our things." He paused. "You think people will suspect me more then you?"

I smiled at him and batted my eye lashes. "I'm innocent little Bella. Your brother is Emmett. I'm definitely less likely to pull something like this off then you are. You're guilty by association."

He snorted and followed along behind me as I made my way over to his door. "I have a feeling your not nearly as innocent as you make people think you are."

I blushed. "What is that supposed to mean?" I asked trying to sound offended. I spun around to glare at him but he was a lot closer then I thought he would be. My smart remark caught in my throat and I lost myself in his eyes. He really did have the most beautiful eyes.

"It doesn't mean anything. I just think there's a sneaky little minx hidden somewhere inside of you and you lead people to thinking your naive." He said softly backing me up against the wall near his door. My checks darkened farther as he braced one hand on either side of my head and leaned in. His bright eyes locked with my darker brown ones and he hesitated a few inches away.

I smirked trying to keep my eyes locked on his insted of looking at his lips. "Maybe there is and maybe there's not. You'll never know." I said flirty, wiggling my eye browns at him. I had one hand behind his neck tickling the small hairs there and he shivered. His eyes had gone back to that dark green color I loved and his voice sounded lower then normal when he spoke, almost husky, a level I'd never heard from him.

"You'll be the death of me Isabella."

I shied when his lips met mine and my hands found their place low on his hips. I mentally rolled my eyes at him. So maybe I wasn't the most innocent person in the world. Would anyone honestly be able to push away from Edward when he kissed them like this? I also felt a thin blush crawling up my checks from when he'd said my name. I was pretty sure that was the first time he'd said my full name out loud. I'd always thought Isabella sounded so odd in normal conversation, which is why I went by Bella. If he would always say my name like _that_ I never wanted to be called Bella again.

One of his hands tangled itself in my hair and my hands wrapped around his waist as I melted against his chest. I could still smell the cooking spray in his hair but somehow it worked. It didn't smell as good as he usually did but it wasn't bad.

I hadn't heard anyone knock but I wasn't really listening either. The door next to us swung open and who ever was standing there started laughing. Edward jumped back like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar and I flushed twice as dark as I had before.

Emmett was standing in the doorway smiling at us as he laughed.

"Woops my bad, I didn't mean to interrupt you two crazy kids. I thought you might be interested in coming down to diner but if you would rather eat out then I'll just be going-"

"Emmett!" Edward snapped at his older brother and I tried becoming invisible, blending into the wall behind me so no one could see me. It wasn't working vary well.

Emmett smiled again and took a step back. "I'll just be going. Congratulations Eddie, I'll see you later Bell."

"Wait." I reached out to grab him and he stopped.

"What?" He asked trying to bite back another laugh as he glanced back and forth between the two of us. He was finding this very humorous.

"You can't tall anyone." I said trying to keep my voice even as my checks turned the darkest red possible.

His smile fell and was replaced by an evil grin as he once again glanced back and forth between the two of us. "Who are you hiding from? You don't have a boyfriend back home do you Bells? That's not very nice. What would he say if-"

"Of course not Emmett! I don't have a boyfriend."

Edward grabbed me around the waist preventing me from lunging at his idiot brother. I growled at him and that only made Emmett laugh harder.

"Emmett please?" I asked trying to give him the Alice pout. Emmett's grin fell and he folded his arms over his chest.

"What exactly are you hiding from?" He asked.

"We don't want the show to find out about this. We would rather the whole country not know about us so, it's safer if you just don't tell anyone." Edward said eyeing his brother carefully.

He nodded. "Have you told mom about your new girlfriend? She'll freak." Emmett asked giving me a warmer smile.

My pout fell and I crossed my arms over my chest as a dull ache pulled at my chest. "I'm not his girlfriend." Edward's hands fell from my waist and I tried not to let the hurt show on my face. Would he have let go if he wanted me to be his girlfriend? He had said he liked me and I'd confessed to having strong feeling for him. His subtle gesture of letting me go felt like a wake up call that I'd been trying not to notice. I wasn't his and he certainly wasn't mine.

I moved a step away from them and kept my gaze lowered. I knew that I was falling for Edward probably harder then I should. If I was being completely honest with myself I knew I had already fallen and I didn't really want to get up. Making out with him on such a regular basis wasn't helping either. I knew it was probably wrong to be so comfortable with him and not be his girlfriend. It made me look easy and that wasn't the reputation I wanted.

"I won't tell anyone if that's what you want. Scouts honor." Emmett said raising his right hand like a boy scout would.

"You were never a scout Emmett." Edward pointed out.

"Same principals." Emmett said turning away from us and walking off.

I waited until the door swung shut behind him before looking up at Edward. Edward didn't look down at me and there was a tension between us that had never existed before. The air between us sparked and I was afraid to move to fast, I didn't was to get shocked.

"I suppose we should head down." Edward said after another minute.

I nodded and let my hair fall around my face, creating a barrier between us so he couldn't see my face. "Ok."

We walked silently down the stairs side by side but never touching. I caught sight of Alice in the lounge and felt a small smile tug at my face. Alice had a soft smile on her face and her fingers were woven together with Jaspers on the table between them. At least someone was happy. Rose was sitting with them and she smiled at me when she felt me watching her.

She raised one perfect eye brow at me and must have noticed my fallen face. She glanced at Edward and then back at me. The question very evident on her face even without words. She wanted to know if something was wrong. I didn't really want to talk about it. I shrugged my shoulders softly and turned away from her.

**POV-Alice**

I couldn't believe it. I knew there were tears in my eyes but I couldn't lift my hands to whip them away. I was completely shocked. I'd been so frustrated with Jasper for not talking to me. I'd been completely insensitive. I never once thought that his secret could be something like this. This was the kind of thing you saw in movies. I was such a horrible person.

"Alice?" Rose had finished talking and she was watching my face as her words sunk in. I hadn't said a word as she told me her story. Her nightmare of a life. I'd never imagined anything like this could be lurking behind the masks that Rose and Jasper wore so well.

I glanced over at Jasper. He was standing just out of my reach with his back to the wall. He was glaring hard at the ground near his feet like he wished it would open up and swalow him whole. He hadn't said much during Rose's story either, other then the occasional growl or dark glare at the things he was remembering.

I'd known Rose and Jasper were close. It was clear as day if anyone bothered to look. Rose scooted over on the bed and took my hand.

"Alice, please say something."

I glanced up at her and tried to think of something to say. Nothing fit, nothing I could say would take away her pain or make what had happened any better. I was just glad I finally understood. Everything that Jasper hadn't said before was starting to make sense. I turned back to Jasper and slowly got to my feet.

I wasn't sure what time it was or how long I'd been listening to their story. I took a step in Jaspers direction and he tensed. His arms were folded across his chest and he was refusing to look up at me.

"Jasper?"

He drew in a shaky breath and let his arms fall to his side. He looked defeated and worn out. I didn't know what to say to take his pain away. I didn't like seeing him hurt and I hated it even more knowing there was nothing I could do about it.

"Jasper, please look at me."

He glanced up and I wanted to cry harder then I already was. He looked lost and I wasn't even sure what he was looking for. I took another step towards him and wrapped my arms around his waist. His back was tense and he shivered under my hands.

He pulled back a step and unwrapped my arms from around him. He held my hands out in front of me and watched me with an expression I couldn't read. My chest ached with the pain I couldn't take away form him and I just wanted to wrap my arms around him again.

"Alice, didn't you hear what she just told you?" He asked me softly.

I nodded slowly glancing back over at were Rose was sitting on the bed. I'd heard everything. Rose had been raped by a man she trusted and Jasper had saved her life. "Yes, I heard."

His eyes hardened and there was a new edge to his voice I hadn't heard before. "I killed him Alice. Royce is dead and I'm the one who killed him."

"What choice did you have?"

He looked shocked at my words. "I didn't have a choice." He said as much to himself as to me. "If I hadn't done something he would have killed Rosalie. I had to."

"He would have killed you to." I tried to step forward and hold onto him again but he mirrored my moves and took a step back.

"How can you still want to be near me?" He asked softly. "I'm a murderer."

"You're a hero Jasper." I agued back glancing over at Rose again. "You did what you had to, to save your sister."

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he pulled me to him. His arms wrapped around my waist and I locked mine around his neck holding him as tightly as I could. Once I was sure nether of us would fall apart when I let go I moved and threw my arms around Rose giving her a hug too.

"Thank you Alice." She whispered in my ear.

Once we were done hugging I moved to hold onto Jasper again. He wrapped his arms around my waist and a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Thank you Alice." He said softly and then he kissed the top of my head.

"For what? I didn't do anything."

"For not pushing away from us. For not pulling away from me because of what I did."

I rubbed my forehead into his chest and inhaled his sent. He always smelt so good, some combination of spice and dried soil and honey. I'd never been to Texas but if it smelt like Jasper I was moving down south. I didn't say anything but I knew he understood. I never would have pulled away from him.

My hands were resting on his chest and morbid curiosity reminded me of the scar Rose had said now existed. The only physical reminded of their terrifying encounter. Jaspers hands covered my own and he moved them off his chest.

"You want to see it?" He asked, guessing where my thoughts were going.

I shook my head watching his face, trying to read the emotions playing across it. "You don't have to show it to me Jasper."

He took a step away and smiled at me. "It's ok."

He pulled his shirt over his shoulders and I tried to keep my face void of emotion. I'd never seen Jasper without a shirt on, even during practice he'd always kept something covering his chest. His chest was beautiful, toned abs leading up to strong shoulders. A thick jagged scare ran along the top of his ribs just a few inches under his heart.

"Jazz." His name came out as a whisper and he smiled as I used his nickname. I hoped Rose wouldn't mind if I used it. I liked it. It was cute and strong and fit him just right.

I stepped closer and ran one of my fingers along the off colored mark. The scare was raised but the skin was smooth. It was beautiful.

"Beautiful?" He asked confused. I hadn't realized I'd spoken my last thought out loud.

I nodded slowly. "Yes, I think so. Jasper what you did was incredibly brave." I moved forward again and wrapped my arms around his waist. He was so much taller then I was so I pressed my face against his chest. I could feel his heart beating under my cheek.

I pulled back a step and smile up at him. "You want to see something?" I asked him.

He nodded. "What?"

I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and fished the picture of my baby kitty out. He wasn't really a baby anymore but he was my baby. I handed the picture to Jasper and he smiled down at the photo.

"Is this your cat?"

I nodded. "Yep, my mom got him for me six years ago. His names Spock." I added blushing like Bella. He'd shard his secret with me. I knew I could trust him with mine. Mine wasnt as big or life changing but it would give us somthing to bond on.

"Like from Startrek?" He asked with a big smile.

I nodded. "Yep"

"You're a Trekkie?"

My blush darkened and I nodded again. "Yes and you can't tell anyone else or I'll kick you butt."

"I'm just glad I'm not the only one." He said handing me back the photo. It took a second for what he had said to sink in and when he did I jumped back into his arms and locked mine around his waist.

"You like Startrek too?"

"Yes but, I like the Next Generation Season better then the first one."

No way! He was perfect, that was all there was to it. "Me too, that's so cool."

He kissed the top of my head and we stood there for along time. When we finally pulled apart I noticed that Rose was gone.

"Where did Rose go?"

Jasper picked his shirt up and I missed the view of his chest once it was back in place. Scare or no scare Jasper was quite handsome. He took my hand and started leading me towards the door.

"She just wanted to give us a little privacy."

Rose was sitting in the hall across the hallway from her room. She jumped to her feet when we walked out and looked back and forth between us trying to figure out how I had taken seeing his scare. I smiled up at her and wrapped my arms around Jasper again.

"You showed her?" She asked her eyes moving up to Jaspers face.

I felt him nod and then she shifted her gaze to me.

I smiled at her, trying to reasure her that I was fine. "-and I showed him Spock."

Rose smiled brilliantly and pulled me into another hug. When she let me go Jasper took my hand again and we all made our way down stairs to diner. We were early and the lounge was mostly empty. We filled our plates and found seats at an empty table.

I never once let go of Jaspers hand and it thrilled me to no end that he didn't make any move to let go of me. Slowly the lounge started to fill up as the dancers returned from town or realized it was diner time.

Emmett waltzed in with a confused smirk on his face. He filled a plate high with food and sat down next to Rose. Rose glanced at the door over my shoulder and smiled at who ever walked in. I leaned into Jaspers side and he squeezed my hand. I loved that I didn't need to say anything and he would know how much this ment to me. I didn't need words with Jasper.

I felt someone's eyes on the back of my neck and I glanced over my shoulder. Edward and Bella had just walked in and I knew at once something was wrong. Her hair hung around her face like a shield and Edward wasn't holding on to her.

They'd always been carful not to display too much affection for each other in front of the other dancers but they were usually touching somewhere. They both had there arms down at their sides and they were refusing to look at each other. I caught Bella's eyes and tried to ask with was wrong without words.

Jaspers fingers tightened around mine and I knew he was noticing the change in them as well. Something bad had definitely happened and I was going to have to talk to her. Bella shrugged her shoulders and glanced quickly up at Edward when he handed her a plate. They moved silently threw the line and even thought they weren't touching their movements were mirrored. Without even knowing it they stayed near each other. When he moved she adjusted and when she shifted her weight he would lean with her. They were linked to each other even when they thought they weren't.

* * *

~Darkrose

I hope no one hates me for making Alice a Trekkie. I really couldn't help it. I had to put my kitty in there somewhere and Alice seemed like the perfect person to take care of him for me. Personally my vices include: Startrek, N'SYNC, chipotle burritos, painting my toes lime green. The list goes on and on and on. My intire life is a vice by societies standards, good thing I don't care much about conforming to society. I like M.A.S.H. too.

What are your secret shames?


	25. Why Not?

A lot of us admitted to fanfic being our biggest secret shame. That's probably my second biggest one, right under my devoted love of the color lime green. I'd also like to add a big thank you to all of my reviewers and to my Beta. She would rock my sox's if I was wearing any.

Chapter 25- Why not?

* * *

POV-Edward

How could I have messed thing up so badly so quickly?!? Bella hadn't said more then five words to me since Emmett interrupted us last night. 'good night' when I walked her silently back to her room after an almost unbearably quiet diner. She hadn't asked me to stay and I didn't ask her to come up with me. "good morning' when I picked her up again this morning and we had gone down to breakfast and a simple 'yes' when I asked her if she was done eating so I could clean our dishes. She'd hardly touched her food and the dark bags under her eyes matched mine.

I'd wrongly assumed that she wanted to be with me. Sure, I hadn't asked her directly to be my girlfriend but I'd thought that's what she would consider herself. She let me stay in her room, I'd asked her to stay in mine. She probably thought I was just playing with her. Make-out when ever I felt like but to afraid to commit in anyway. She couldn't possibly think I would use her like that, could she?

She wasn't mine to claim and I been taking her company for granted these past few weeks. Her hair was down again, spilling around her face and preventing me from seeing her eyes as we walked up the stairs. I wanted to brush her hair away and make all the pain go away. I just didn't know how to do that and keep myself in check.

She'd made it clear last night that she was not my girlfriend and the glare she'd shot at Emmett made it seem pretty clear she didn't want to be. Her words had stung so badly I dropped her waist like she'd burned me. Why hadn't I asked her to be my girlfriend? I'd had so many good opportunities to ask her. I should have asked her the first time I confessed how much I liked her.

Then she'd stepped away from me in the hall and I was glad I hadn't said anything. Her subtle physical rejection hurt almost more then her words and I didn't need to bare my sole to someone who wouldn't return my feelings. I'd fallen hard for Bella the moment I first saw her before diner at the start of callbacks. She was even more beautiful in person then she had been on the TV during her audition, dancing to "Baila, Balia." I'd never seen anything sexier then the shy little girl with the dark blush who danced like a sultry minx under a angel's halo. Her dress had been the most beautiful color blue and it stood out against her pale skin and warm brown hair. The only other place I'd seen that same blue color was on the tank-top she wore to bed at night.

Bella glanced quickly at me once and then over my shoulder where Roger was turning his camera on. He nodded once he was all set and Bella pushed the door out of our way so we could see who we would be working with.

I watched Bella's face as a smile pulled on her beautiful lips. She had no idea how beautiful she was and that innocence only added to her wicked charm. I reached out to take her hand but she shot forward out of my reach and bounded into the room.

I looked up as she threw her arms around a woman neck and smiled softly to myself. We were working with Tabitha &Napoleon D'umo this week. Bella had told me she was looking forward to meeting them. Her heart was in Latin dance but her soul grooved to a deep base hip-hop and I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up.

"Bella, Edward welcome."

Tabitha wrapped an arm around Bella and returned her eager hug. I walked closer and shook hands with Napoleon and exchanged my own hug with Tabitha.

The two choreographers, commonly referred to as Nat and Tab on the show, got straight to work. We would be dancing to a song called "Battle Field" by: Jordin Sparks and we were in for a hard week so we had better be prepared.

"Have either of you danced Hip-hop before?" Napoleon wanted to know glancing back and forth between the two of us.

I shook my head and pointed at Bella throwing her under the bus. "She has."

Bella nodded. "I'm not trained in Hip-Hop but it's definitely one of my favorites. I've taken a couple of classes." Her enthusiasm won her big smiles from both choreographers and we started stretching.

As we stretched they told us a bit about what the dance would look like. As suggested by the song title Bella and I would be fighting during this battle, at least a little bit.

"We've also got a really cool prop for you to use that were going to work in later."

"What is it?" Bella asked.

"It's a white flag." Tabitha said with a big smile. "Took us forever to find exactly what we needed, your going to be the first ones to use it."

Napoleon got up and dug around in a bag he had back by the stereo. He returned to our little stretching ring and held up a white cloth with some loops and knots sown into the fabric.

"Give me your arm Edward."

I held out my hand and he looped the white cloth around my wrist. He strung the flag threw one of the loops and hooked it over a knot so it wouldn't come off.

"In the song there's a lyric about having your hands tied behind your back." He explained gesturing to the cloth hand cuff I was wearing.

Bella visible paled and her mouth formed a perfect little 'o' like they do in movies when someone is terrified. "Oh no." The words were nothing more then an airy whisper but we all heard it.

"Oh yes" Tabitha said with an even bigger smile on her face. She reached over and yanked on the white flag tied around my wrist.

"See, it won't come off if you yank at it but," She reached under and tugged on the knot, the flag came loose and I could slip it off my wrist. "If someone else pushes on the knot it will come right off. You're both going to have choreography during the dance where your arms are going to be tied together."

Napoleon nodded and unwrapped the cloth from my wrist. "We'll show you where we're going to use it later. For now let's get to work learning some of the basic moves."

"You're trying to kill me." Bella said softly as we rose to our feet.

Nat and Tab both laughed. Tabitha hung an arm over Bella's shoulders and hugged her. "Bella we wouldn't have picked this dance if we didn't think you could do it. We saw your Bollywood number, the stage chemistry between the two of you is what choreographer's dream of working with. We did a happy dance when you drew our card." She admitted pointing to Napoleon who nodded along. "Besides" she added patting me on the back as she moved over to the stereo. "The only lifts in this dance are easier then the ones you did last week. I don't think you have to worry about Edward dropping you."

Her checks blushed pink and she turned away from me to follow after Tabitha to the other side of the room. I'd never drop her. I made the silent promise as much to myself as to her.

Working with Nat and Tab was like trying to learn to speak a different language. All of the hip-hop moves had funny names. Tabitha tried to teach me one called a 'windmill' and Napoleon became my instructor on 'popping' and 'locking'. Bella spun around the room with Tabitha looking like some kind of gritty angel making it all look _so_ easy as she mirrored Tabitha's moves.

"Edward, you're not paying attention. Focus on what you're doing!"

I jumped as Napoleon's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I tore my eyes from Bella's reflection in the mirror. Watching Bella dance was like getting a glimpse into her thoughts. She moved with more feeling then any other dancer I knew and she didn't even have to try.

"Sorry."

"You ok?" He asked glancing over my shoulder at where the girls were working.

I nodded. "Yes sr."

"Good, watch me one more time then try to follow along ok?"

I nodded again and watched at Nat redid the run and then tried to follow along. I did a spin, got tangled in my own legs, and fell flat on my ass. A soft, chiming giggle drew my eyes to Bella's face before she could cover her laughter in a fake cough. She was watching me through the mirror in front of her and I felt my ears burn in embarrassment.

Nat offered me a hand and pulled me back to my feet.

"Don't worry about it Edward, you'll get it down eventually."

I continued to work with Napoleon on my opening solo as Bella breezed through hers. Eventually Tabitha called us together and wanted to get some work down on the first partner phrase. Roger had been circling the room like a hawk all morning, filming us work, and he was going to do individual interviews again after lunch.

"Ok Edward you stand here and Bella you stand in front of him."

We moved to where she was pointing and listened as they talked about the dance. It was actually quite humorous to watch the two of them. They kept finishing each others sentences and Bella and I had to keep looking back and forth as they talked.

"The first time you get near each other in the dance is going to be kind of like a climax." Tabitha explained.

"There's a swell in the music so it works out perfectly." Napoleon added.

"We'll show you the counts later for now let's get the moves down."

Tabitha talked with her hands.

"Bella you're going to move into this stance from the ground. On the last role in your solo you'll get up right here with Edward in front of you."

Bella nodded as Napoleon moved behind her. He took her hands in his and moved her into a fighting stance. Tabitha moved behind me and did the same.

"Bella have you ever hit anyone before?" Tabitha wanted to know.

Bella shook her head, staring over my shoulder at Tabitha instead of looking at me.

"Well here's you chance to make it look like you're hitting someone." Napoleon moved his hand forward slowly, Bella's fist in his. He swung forward and pretended to hit me in the jaw. I bit my lip to keep from laughing at Bella's expression.

"Edward" Tabitha tugged on my shirt collar. "Have you ever been hit before? You're supposed to move when someone hits you."

Oh, I was supposed to play along. Napoleon and Bella swung forward again and I fell back trying to act like she had actually hit me. Napoleon showed Bella the string of hits. She was going to try and hit me three times. The first one would hit my jaw the second one would hit my right side and I would dodge the third one.

"However Edward your not going to hit back because that's rude." Tabitha said with a smirk dropping my hands so they would fall to my sides. "Now run it again and try to make it look like you're angry at each other.

Napoleon moved away from Bella and she moved into her new fighting stance. I pulled up my fists and smirked at her. She frowned and swung forward. I recoiled from the first hit, took the second one like a man and dodged away from the third hit.

"What do I get to do after I dodge the hit?" I asked.

"We'll get to that later." Napoleon said and the ordered us to run the move again.

Once we had the fake fight down Nat dragged me to one side of the room and Tab took Bella to the other. They had us run our opening solos and then practice the transition into the fighting stances.

"Bella you're behind on the last move, run it again and try to stay on top of the tempo." Tabitha instructed as we ran the transition moves again.

"And Edward you keep getting to close, try to leave a little more distance between you and Bella so she can really move with her swings."

Napoleon added as we moved back into the opening stance and Tabitha hit the play button again. I started my solo trying to keep one eye on Bella as she moved. Her moves came more naturally then mine did and I watched as she moved into the role a count to early.

I turned so I would be facing her and realized I was to close and she was coming in to fast. She had moved to early and was already starting to swing by the time I realized my mistake. She had used her role to add force to her swing like Tabitha had showed her. I tried to pull back but it was too late. Bella's tiny fist hit my chin with all of the speed and power she had built in her role and I heard the sick little snap.

My jaw snapped shut and my teeth rattled as I stumbled backwards. I tripped into Napoleon, who had moved forward to catch me, and we both fell to the ground. Bella gasped in shock and it turned into a hiss of pain as she clutched her fist to her chest.

"Edward, are you ok?" Tabitha grabbed my hand and pulled me to me feet.

I nodded and moved closer to Bella's side. "Are you ok Bella?"

She shook her head. "Nope, something's wrong with my hand." She tried to straighten her fingers and hissed again. "I'm so sorry Edward I was off count."

I carefully took her hand and started running my fingers over each of hers looking for the problem. "It wouldn't have mattered if you were on count. I was to close to you again."

She hissed when I hit the knuckle on her ring finger and jerked her hand away from me. Tabitha fluttered to her side and grabbed her hand again.

"Let me see it Bella."

Napoleon grabbed my chin and turned my head to the side to he could see my check better. "She hit you good boy, I bet that bruises." He laughed but it was cut off as Bella hissed in pain again. We both moved over to stand next to the girls and glanced at Bella's hand.

Her left ring finger was starting to swell and the knuckle had the faint purple start of a good bruise. Tabitha let go of her hand and Bella tucked it against her chest again.

"Bella you need to go down to medic right now. Napoleon, Edward you go with her I'll go talk to the show producer. They'll need to know she's hurt. Roger you can come back tomorrow to film some more."

Bella grumbled something that sounded like 'hurt again'. Napoleon ushered us out the door and down the stairs. We made our way down stairs and I opened the door for Bella when we reached the medic's room.

Dr. Andrews was sitting at a desk in the corner when we came in and he jumped to his feet when he saw us.

"Edward, Bella? What's wrong?"

I helped Bella get up onto the cot and the doctor moved to her side. Bella held out her hand and let him look over it. She was biting down on her lip and I could tell she was trying to hide how much pain she was in.

"The knuckles broken." Bella said wincing as he ran his fingers over hers. "I've done it before." I had the strange urge to pull him away from her as she winced under his touch again. He was a doctor he wasn't suppose to hurt people.

Dr. Andrews nodded. "Your right about the break but I'd like to take an X-ray just to make sure." He dug in a small white fridge and pulled out an ice pack. "Put this on your hand Bella, we don't want it to swell any more."

He started rummaging around his desk. "How did this happen, Bella?"

Napoleon chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

"I hit Edward." Bella said shooting me an apologetic look. I gave her a soft smile and shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm fine."

Dr. Andrews came up to me and lifted my chin like Napoleon had. He ran his finger along the spot were Bella had hit me. It was sore and I had no doubt that it would bruise but it really didn't hurt. I was oddly impressed with how much power Bella had been able to work into her swing.

Dr. Andrews pulled another ice pack out for me. "Put this on your chin."

"It's not swelling, I'm fine." I said leaning against the wall next to Bella. She had looked away from me again and I didn't want her feeling guilty about hitting me. I probably disserved it for something. I had to find a way to fix our relationship. Even if she didn't want to be my girlfriend, losing a friend like Bella would be a mistake.

The doctor held the ice pack out to me. "Take it, doctor's orders. It'll help keep the bruising down. If you show up in Max's office with a giant bruise on your face she'll eat you alive and force you to wear a whole bunch of make-up for the show."

I took the ice pack and pressed it against my jaw. I'd never admit it out loud but I was honestly afraid of making Max mad. I had a feeling she wasn't afraid to chew the dancers out.

"Bella leave all of your electronic and anything metal in here. I've got a small X-ray next door we can use to look at your hand."

I helped Bella down and she left her I-pod and her cell phone on the cot. She tugged at a chain around her neck and I helped her with the clasp. A small gold coin hung on the thin chain. She set it down and added her shoes to the pile of things before following Dr. Andrews out of the room.

I tried to follow them but I was ordered to stay with Napoleon and wait. I sat in a chair along the wall and Napoleon took the open chair next to me.

"What's up with you and Bella?" He asked with a knowing glance in my direction as soon as the door was closed behind them.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled. "The chemistry between the two of you could have set the stage on fire last week and either one of you would have realized. Getting the two of you to pay attention up stairs just now was like trying to pull teeth. Now what happened between your show on Wednesday and today?"

I shook my head. "There's nothing going on between Bella and myself." Because I was too stupid to think of asking her, and I doubt she wants me anyway. She should have hit me harder.

Napoleon shook his head at me and leaned back in his chair. "Your talking to a married man, remember? Maybe you and Bella really are too stupid to not see it but, if you don't fix whatever happened your stage chemistry is going to come apart at the seams and you'll end up getting sent home and I know either of you want that."

I nodded not looking over at him. "I'll talk to her."

"Good man."

The door flew open and Tabitha came in followed shortly by one of the stage workers I recognized but couldn't remember his name. I didn't really care what his name was. Napoleon filled them in on Bella's hand and Tabitha demanded to see my jaw. I glanced at myself in the mirror. A faint purple mark was forming on the underside of my jaw and even thought it hurt I smiled to myself. Bella had a good left hook.

The door opened again and Bella came back into the medic's room followed by the doctor. She stuffed her things back into her pockets and I helped her get her shoes on. She jumped up onto the cot and sat still as Dr. Andrews fitted her for a brace.

Tabitha had Max on the phone and they were talking about a change in Bella's wardrobe to accommodate the brace. She would have limited mobility in her left hand but it wouldn't affect her dancing to much.

"We're going to have to change a few of the moves in the dance." Napoleon said as he and Tabitha moved off to a corner and started whispering about our routine. Tabitha nodded and I moved next to Bella while the doctor was working on her hand.

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged her slender shoulders. I knew she wouldn't tell me it hurt while everyone else was around but I wanted to try and open the lines of communication between us. "It's sore but I've had worse."

I nodded, the gash on her arm from the van incident was still visible and it looked like it would probably leave a faint scare. I'd never known someone as graceful as Bella to hurt themselves so often.

"How's you jaw?" She asked glancing up at me.

I moved the ice pack and let her see the mark. "I'm fine. You've got a good left hook."

She chuckled. "I'm really sorry about that Edward. I honestly didn't mean to hit you."

"Don't worry about it."

Tabitha and napoleon moved back over to our side. Tabitha looked like she was ready to hit something and Napoleon smiled at me.

"Once the doctors done I want both of you up stairs in Costume. I've talked to Max and she's going to move you're fitting up before lunch. You're both done dancing for the day." She pointed a stern finger at Bella and scowled. "If you even think of using that hand I'll hunt you down myself." She pointed at me. "You keep her off her hand, do anything you have to. She's not aloud to use it. We'll see you both tomorrow."

She and Napoleon said some quick goodbyes and left. The doctor finished fitting Bella with her brace and excused us. I opened the door for Bella and followed her down the hall. She'd gone quiet again.

She glanced up at me and folded her arms over her chest. I shied and ran a hand through my hair. "Bella can we talk?"

She looked a little wary about my question but nodded anyway. I glanced around the hall and spotted several people within ear shot. I took her good hand and she shied at the contact. I pulled her down the hall a bit and glanced in studio two. It was empty.

I pulled her inside and shut the door behind us.

"Bella what's wrong?"

She let go of my hand and crossed hers over her chest again. "It's nothing Edward."

I ran a hand through my hair out of habit and tried to find a way to ask her about what had happened to us. "It's not nothing, or it wouldn't be bothering you so much." I said quoting the words she had use on me yesterday to get me to talk.

She moved to turn away from me so I took her hand and stopped her from leaving. She spun back around to look at me and her face was closer to mine then it had been since this whole mess started. Her beautiful eyes locked on mine and in that moment I would have done anything for her. She had no idea how beautiful she was.

"Bella? Please."

She moved closer and rose up onto her toes. She pressed her lips to mine and it felt like she'd punched me right in the gut. The move was unexpected, sweet and I only hesitated a second before kissing her back. Her soft hands were on my chest the fingers of her good hand curled into my shirt and my arms wrapped around her waist.

Her hands moved to the back of my neck and I adjusted my hold on her waist. She stiffened in my arms and pulled back a step. She pressed her good hand to my chest to keep me from moving with her.

"Edward we have to stop doing this."

Her words burned me like they had last night and I dropped my arms to my sides again. I couldn't keep up with her mood swings. One second we're laughing like long time friends, then were making out like long time lovers and then she pushed me back and builds all of these walls up between us. She never did what I expected her to.

"Why?"

She shied and my hand shot out automatically to take hers. She didn't pull away and let me weave my fingers together with hers. I loved how her hand hit perfectly in mine. She glanced down at our hands and then looked back up at me again.

"Edward"

The way she said my name tore at my chest in unexpected ways. I'd never felt anything like this before. Her voice started off soft as she spoke but as she kept going she got faster and louder.

"I don't just make out with people on a regular basis Edward. I'm not your girlfriend, it's not right. Alice knows, now Emmett knows, were really not good at the whole keep this secret thing. Soon everyone will know and I'll get labeled as the seasons ho and you'll get called a player or a womanizer and I don't want people to think that because your not and I'm not that easy and I think it would probably be easier on both of us if we just stayed dance partners and-"

She stopped, not knowing what to say next and I almost chuckled. She was trying to protect our reputations. How anyone could think Bella was easy was beyond me. She was the most confusing woman I'd ever met. One second she's dancing like some kind of hell risen angel. Then she's slipping me tiny kisses while no ones watching like there secrets ment just for me. And now she was throwing a tantrum and it was the hottest thing I'd ever seen.

A chuckled escaped my lips and she glared up at me. I smiled at her and wrapped my arms around her waist again, ignoring her attempt to push me back as I pulled her closer. "So, be my girlfriend."

She was almost as shocked by my words as I was. She stopped pushing against me and glanced up at my face. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth but she kept her face free of any other sign of emotion.

"Really?" She asked softly.

I nodded. "Why not?"

She frowned. "You don't have to do that just because I-"

I cut her off, she misunderstood and I didn't want her to think I was just doing this so she would continue to make out with me. "Bella I'm not doing this for you or for Emmett or the show or for any other reason. I should have asked you a week ago but I didn't because apparently I'm an idiot. I've never had a girlfriend before Bella I'm not going to pretend to be an expert at this kind of thing. Will you be my girlfriend?"

She smiled again and a delicate blush crept up her checks. "Sure, I'd like that Edward."

"Really?" I asked with a stupid grin on my face.

She smiled. "Why not?"

I laughed and she joined in a second later. We laughed for what felt like forever. All the awkward tension between us was gone. It was just me and Bella again. Only this time she was my girlfriend, my Bella. I grabbed her good hand and pulled her to me so I could kiss her.

Once we pulled away she took my hand and pulled me towards the door. "We need to get upstairs."

I nodded. "I'm kind of afraid of Max." I admitted following her as we hurried down the hall and into the stair well.

Bella giggled as she raced up the stairs ahead of me. "I'm more afraid of Tabitha."

* * *

~Darkrose

I hope everyone understood the bit about the flag. I've seen a prop like that used once before and it was really cool. I'll work on finding a picture of it for my profile.

As always I hope you enjoyed it and please feel free to leave me a review. "Cough Cough 'hint' Cough"


	26. It's very funny

So there were a few people who didn't understand the flag prop in the last chapter and I'm sorry about that. Basically think of it as a white flag, its got two loops on it so you can use it kind of like weird "cloth handcuffs" and it's hard to get off without help. I hope that makes a little more sense.

Chapter 26- It's very funny  


* * *

POV-Bella

Max was waiting for me when Jason pushed me into the girls fitting room. He dragged Edward off with him and I barely had a chance to wave goodbye before they disappeared behind the red curtain. Alice was already standing on one of the circle platforms wearing her bra, a white pinstriped vest and currently getting pinned into a pair of black pants with thick white stripes that were probably three sizes to big and a foot to long.

She smiled when she saw me and then frowned when she spotted my new hand brace.

"Bella what are you doing here and what in God's name did you do to your hand?"

Max pointed silently at another of the circle platforms. I got up on the fitting platform and striped to my underwear so she could begin work on my costume for our hip-hop dance.

"I broke my knuckle so they moved up our fitting."

She stared open mouthed at me until the woman pinning her paints jabbed her with a pin by mistake and she yelped.

"Sorry dear."

Alice waved her off and glanced back at me as Max started handing me things to try on.

"How did you manage that one?"

I grimaced and blushed at the same time and told her about the routine Nat and Tab had come up with and how I'd been having trouble with timing and then how I had punched Edward right in the face. The room got oddly silent after I explained about hitting Edward and then all three of them burst into laughter at the same time. My whole face was aflame and I desperately hoped Edward and the other boy's couldn't hear us.

The woman pinning Alice's pants had to sit down she was shaking so badly and Alice was doubled over close to tears.

"You really hit him in the face?" She asked with a hand on her chest as she desperately tried to catch her breath. I scowled darkly at her.

"Yes, and I would appreciate you keeping your mouth shut about it to."

She still had a grin plastered on her face but everyone seemed to be under control as Max and the other woman both got back to work on our costumes. Max patted my leg and passed me a pair of black and white striped, thigh high socks.

I cocked an eye brow at her but she just smiled and nodded. "Trust me Bella." I pulled the socks on and then she had me layer a pair of loose black jeans over them.

"What's the point of the socks?" I asked buttoning the jeans in place.

Max dug into her apron and pulled out a pair of thin silver scissors. "I told you to trust me." She started cutting the sides of the jeans and within a few minutes the ground was littered with denim scraps. She sat back on her heels and blew at the tip of the scissors like some one would blow on an old gun after a shoot out.

The sides of my jeans now had ribbon thin holes in them and you could see the strips on the socks when I moved.

"That's cool." Alice commented as she pulled on a long sleeved red shirt. I nodded along spinning around in front of the mirror.

"Very cool."

Max smiled. "Thank you girls. The hip-hop outfits are generally some of my favorites. Wait until you see the top Tabitha and I worked out for you."

Alice's vest was getting pinned over her red top. Max pulled out a white tank-top and tossed it to me. I pulled it over my head and watched as she dug around in another box. She produced a loose fitting black shirt with ruffles down the middle.

While Max cut the black top up, I watched Alice get the finishing touches for her jazz outfit. The woman working with her tied a red tie around Alice's neck and gave her a pinstriped fedora with a red ribbon. Her hair spiked out around the ends of the hat. She pulled on a pair of black jazz shoes and spun around in front of me.

"What do you think Bella?"

I nodded. "I like it Alice. You look like you should be dancing to the song Steam Clean from the Pajama Game."

She was all smiles. "I would need a top hat for Steam Clean. I'm so glad Mike picked jazz. This is going to be the best week for me I can already tell."

She was all smiles and I could tell it was about more then just the dance style.

"So what'd you think when Jasper talked to you?"

I asked trying not to say too much in front of the costume shop ladies. Alice's big smile was replaced with a smaller one and she returned to her platform so her helper could adjust a few of the pins on her vest.

"I was surprised, but glad to finally know."

"He was worried you would freak out."

She nodded. "I know, I didn't and I can't believe he thought I would."

She glanced over at me and I gave her a small smile. I truly was happy for her and Jasper. I was glad that He and Rose considered us such good friends.

"There you go dear I think your all done."

The blond working on Alice helped her down from the platform and took her out into the main room to see Mikes outfit. Max finished cutting up my black over top and when she was done it hung in elegant ribbons off my shoulders making me look like I'd been mulled by some kind of fashion aware bear. She added a pair of low heeled, black boots and torn black gloves. The glove for my let hand was larger then the right one and it fit snuggly over my brace so no one would see it.

Alice came back in to the changing room just as Max was finishing my hair. She had it half up in a bun half hanging around my face. I looked like I'd just been in some kind of fist fight.

"I like it Bella. It looks like Edward got a few good punches in."

I smirked at her. "I'm the only one who gets to throw punches in our dance."

Max helped me off the fitting platform and led me out into the main room while Alice started packing up her costume. Edward and Jason were already waiting for us. Edward looked like a street ruffed model. His long legs were clad in loose fitting, dark green pants and his shirt was ripped like mine, leaving teasing strips of his chest bare for everyone to see. Yummy.

Edward let out a low whistle as I spun in a circle for him. "Love the socks Bella."

I giggled and felt my face flush at his comment. "Me too, I might have to invest in a couple pairs for myself."

We were both dragged back into our fitting rooms and Max helped me pack up everything I would need for my costume. I got back to the main room at the same time as Edward. He glanced down at his watch.

"It's lunch time, you hungry?"

I nodded. "Starved, let's go."

"What were you and the girls laughing about earlier?"

I grinned sheepishly up at him. "Alice asked me how I hurt my hand."

"Oh." He chuckled. "That would explain it."

He pulled open the door to the lounge for me and we grabbed plates of food. Alice smiled at me as we walked over to the table where the others were sitting. No one was watching us so I was guessing she hadn't told them about my hand.

My brace didn't stay secret for long. Edward pulled out my chair for me and Emmett's eyes locked onto my injured hand.

"Fall down again Bella?" Emmett asked pointing to my hand. The others at the table all grew silent as they took in my injury. I shook my head and flashed him a big smile.

"No Emmett, I punched your brother in the face."

Emmett turned his eyes on Edward who tilted his head back and pointed to the darkening bruise under his chin. The whole table burst into laughter as we sat down and I scooted my chair as close to his as I could.

"I've been wanting to do that for years Bella." Emmett said raising his glass to me. "You just made my entire day."

"Glad I could help."

Jake took the seat on my free side and grabbed my hand so he could look at it. "I'm proud of you Bella you must have put some force behind this." He shot a cheeky grin at Edward and I elbowed him in the gut.

"It was an accident Jake."

Jake didn't look like he completely believed that I hadn't ment to hit Edward.

"How long will your hand be wrapped?" Angela wanted to know.

I shrugged. "A few weeks probably."

"How is that going to affect your dancing?"

"I'll make it work."

Conversation at lunch moved away from my hand and everyone started filling us in on their different dances. Emmett and Leah were working with Tyce this week on a Broadway tango number from Moulin Rouge.

"Were dancing to the tango number they do in that musical movie Moulin Rouge, the one about the boy who falls in love with a striper."

Angela and Ben both zeroed in on their conversation at the word Musical.

"Technically Emmett she's called a courtesan." Angela corrected him.

"You mean The Tango De Roxana?" Ben asked. "I love that song."

"That's the one." Leah said taking an angry bit out of her sandwich. "I get to be Roxana."

Emmett smirked. "I didn't know you wanted to be a striper." Leah slapped him upside his head and Jake yanked her back when she moved to hit him again.

Angela and Ben started comparing the different Broadway singers who were part of the number from the movie and I watched as they got into a fairly heated argument about who sang it better. It was kind of funny.

As lunch came to an end, everyone else made their way back to their choreographers or to the costume shop. I glanced at Edward as the last pair left, leaving us alone.

"Now what are we supposed to do?"

He shrugged. "We could go exploring."

"For what?"

"We still need a place to hide our things while we work on Operation Switzerland."

"Good idea, I should probably call home to, Summer will kill me if I don't check in."

"What do you think she'll say when you tell her you hurt you hand?"

Edward opened to door for me and I followed him down the hall as we left to explore parts of the building.

"She'll probably kill you in your sleep."

His eyes got really big and I giggled when he missed a step on our way up stairs. "But I didn't do it."

I had to hold onto my sides as I started laughing. He looked positively terrified at the idea of Summer coming after him. Summer was tiny but she was probably just as feisty as Alice.

"This is not funny Bella." He said pouting at me.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him along after me as we wondered down a back hallway on the fifth floor.

"I was kidding Edward, and you should have seen your face, it was very funny."

We wondered around for a while longer climbing up and down back stair wells and going through doors we weren't quite sure we were allowed to go through.

"Do you even know what floor we're on anymore?" I asked as we descended down another set of small back stairs. Wires were running up and down, taped to the stairs and the walls to help keep people from tripping on them. It looked like tech hell. I wasn't sure how any of the works here remembered what wires went with what camera.

"I think were on the second floor." Edward said glancing back up the stairs we had just come down. "Or maybe the third."

"Let's try to find something we recognize before we get eaten by this house."

He laughed. "That would make a good horror movie."

"Not if we were the stupid people who walk into the dark room and get eaten."

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. "We just can't split up. It's always the person who goes off by themselves that gets eaten in those movies."

"Agreed."

I smirked up at him. "I think it's only fair to warn you that if something actually pops out of the wall I'm going to push you in front of me and run away screaming."

He chuckled and grabbed my good hand as I tripped over a wire that wasn't taped down well. "I don't think you would make it very far with all of these cables, you would just fall down."

I blushed and hit him lightly with my good hand. "Not funny."

He smirked. "You're the only person I know who can dance like an angel and then trip over her own feet, it's very funny."

I scowled at him and then yanked a door out of my way so we could move forward.

"Hey I know were we are."

Edward peeked over my shoulder. "How did we get to the first floor? I didn't think we climbed down that many flights."

I shrugged and moved farther into the room. We had come out of a door in the main auditorium near the sound box in the back of the room.

"Let's go snoop around back stage." Edward suggested glancing around to make sure none of the crew men were watching us.

"Ok"

We walked along the rows of chairs until we reached the stage. The auditorium was oddly quiet without all of the other dancers and the camera men and our footsteps echoed as we walked across the stage.

"Look at all the stuff back here."

"How can you see anything? It's all covered up."

Back stage was eerily dark, everything was draped with black sheets and lose weirs on the floor made walking a slow process. We looked around for something that would make a good hiding place but every where we look was ether impossible to get to or to easy for one of the stage hands to find.

After another hour of wondering around we retired to the lounge to wait for the other dancers. I called Summer and had to hold the phone away from my ear as she started screaming at me.

"How could you hurt your hand Bella? Is this going to affect your next dance? How serious is it? What did you do? Have you told your mom yet. Renne's guuna freak that you got hurt again."

"Summer, Summer calm down. I'm ok. No, it's not permanent and it shouldn't affect my next dance. And no I havn't told mom yet but the show doctor probebly called her again."

"What did you do?"

I chuckled and Edward rolled his eyes at me. I retold the story about meting with Nat and Tab and the dance they had Edward and I working on. I was trying to get to the part when I hit Edward but Summer kept interrupting.

"You got to meet Tabitha and Napoleon! I'm so jealous; are they cool? I love their work, they always have awsome dances. I can't wait to see it."

"They're very nice, are you going to shut up so I can finished my story?" I asked.

Edward shook his head. "I have an idea, why don't you just not tell her?"

I turned away from the phone ignoring what Summer was saying as she ranted about one of the dancers Nat and Tab had done last year. "I have to tell her. They'll probably talk about it on the show anyway so she going to find out sooner or later."

"I vote later." He said hooking his legs up over the table we were sitting at.

"Bell who are you talking to?" I turned my attention back to the phone.

"Edward's with me. We're not allowed to work anymore today so I have a chance to rest my hand a bit before Nat and Tab kick our asses tomorrow."

I could hear Summer smile and just picture her flopping down on her bed so she could pry all the details out of me the way she did at home.

"Tell that fine hunk of boy that I say hi."

I giggled and relayed her message to Edward. "She wants me to tell that fine hunk of boy that she says hi."

Edward almost blushed and I giggled. "Tell her I say hi to, but I doubt she'll want to talk to me after you tell her about your hand."

I patted his shoulder and he leaned back to I could play with his hair. "It was an accident Edward, she can't blame you for that. Besides it was my fault."

"I can still hear you, you know." Summer said drawing my attention back to her. I finished telling her about my hand. I flinched as she started screaming again but what surprised me the most was that she was yelling at me and not Edward.

"How could you hit him? No wonder you've never had a boyfriend! I can teach you much safer and more affective ways of getting a guys attention Bella."

"Summer-" She wasn't listening to me.

"Do you really think he's going to fall for you if you go around hitting him? And that face! Did you bruise his pretty face!?! If you get illiminated for this Bella I'm gunna come over there and kick your ass!"

"Summer!"

She paused in the middle of her next rant. "What?" Edward and I were laughing so hard it was getting hard for me to breath. Edward had turned my phone on speaker so he could listen along with me as Summer yelled so he'd heard her entire rant.

Edward took the phone from me and held it closer to his face while he spoke. "Actually Summer I found the direct approach very effective and refreshing. I think her hitting me helped me get my head on straight. As for getting me to fall for her I already have. Bella's got a boyfriend now."

The other side of the phone went quiet. I took the phone from him and pulled it closer to me. "Summer? Are you still there?"

"You're going out?!?"

"Shhhhh" Edward and I said at the same time. "It's still kind of a secret Summer. We don't want the show to go crazy with a showmance so were not telling too many people."

She went quiet again. "Can I tell your mom?"

I rolled my eyes. "Go for it."

"Yippy, I'll call you later." The phone went dead without a goodbye and I snapped it shut letting it fall to the table.

"I don't think I have to worry about her eating me in my sleep." Edward said with a smirk.

"No, now you just have to worry about not getting kicked out this week because of my hand."

"We'll make it work out Bella."

I sat together and chatted aimlessly until the other dancers started turning up for diner. I went through the food line with Alice and she grumbled about Mike having two left feet.

"I'm not that short am I Bella?" She asked suddenly turning on me.

"I don't think so Alice." Yes she was. Alice was five foot nothing of pure mussel and New York attitude. In the last week I'd seen her dance like a fairy and then turn around and cuss like a sailor. I loved Alice, but I was glad I wasn't her partner.

We sat down and everyone talked more about the new dances they were working on. I made it my goal to wonder around during lunch so I had a chance to talk to everyone. Jane was sitting with Heidi and Victoria and she waved me to the chair next to her went I came over.

I introduced myself to Victoria again and had to retell the story of hurting my hand. They laughed and Edward smirked at me from across the room knowing what I had said to make them all laugh.

Erik was sitting at a table near us and he introduced me to the guys he was sitting with when I came over. I'd already met both Laurent and James but with the tight schedule we kept it was hard to get to know everyone. Erik was feeling bad because he was having trouble keeping up with Jane and he was worried he would get her sent to the bottom.

"I'm sure everyone will fall into the bottom at some point Erik. Don't worry about it."

He smiled. "Thanks Bella."

"What did you do to your hand?" James asked pointing out my brace. I shied and sat down in the open chair at their table to re-tell the story. Erik started laughing halfway through and took over the story with more enthusiasm then I was using.

"So Bella's moving to fast and Edwards to close to her and Wham!" He swung his fist out like he was hitting someone. "She punches him right in the jaw. He's even got a nice little bruise." James and Laurent started laughing and I walked away when my face flushed. It really wasn't that funny.

Jake announced that movie night was being held in his room so after diner everyone shuffled up stairs and settled in on the floor around his room. It seemed like the more often we held movie night the more people came and Jakes room was cramped as all eighteen of us tried to see the TV.

Half way through the movie I started falling asleep so I dismissed myself. I waited in the hall and five minutes later Edward let himself out. I followed him into his room and made myself at home on his bed.

"Good night Bella."

I snuggled closer to his chest. "Night."

* * *

~Darkrose

…I'm sorry this took so long to update. I have no excuse and thank you for being so patient with my writers block.

I hope you liked it. This chapter was just kind of a filler. I'll get back to the dancing in the next one. I really wanted to work the exchange between Bella and Emmett in the lounge. I couldn't resist making the parallel to the book when Bella punches Jake.

I got to go see the sytycd tour last night, It was toataly awsome! I recomend everyone going if you have the chance to see it. They cracked jokes about the Rushain folk dance throught the show and then everyone came out and did a group sexy verion of it. It was fantastic and I would just like to state for the record that Kupono has a great butt.


	27. Back to Work

I dedicate this chapter to a good friend of mine named Sara. I've hit kind of a block with my writing, not just this story but all of them. She gave me a flash drive a few days ago and said it would help me. It was music! Over a hundred songs of brand new awesome music! I feel inspired and have some fresh ideas for songs our dancers will perform to during the show. Thanks girl I love you!

This chapter was written to "The Tango De Roxanne" from the musical _Moulin Rouge_. It's a very powerful song and I recommend listening to it as you read the end of this chapter to get the full effect of the dance.

Chapter 27-Back to Work

* * *

Pov- Bella

"Edward you've got to get lower when you move. Sink into your heels more."

"Bella your still missing those last two counts."

"Stop. Run it again."

I rubbed at my face as sweat ran down from my hair line into my eyes. I'd thought that Nat and Tab might go easy on us after the mishap we'd had yesterday. Ha! Yeah right. Tabitha was trying to unlock Edward's inner hip-hop dancer and Napoleon was running me ragged with the set I would have to dance with the handcuffs on. I'd never realized how much I used my hands when I danced until I suddenly didn't have them anymore

There was a move in the dance were Edward would slip the white flag around my wrists and I would have to dance with my hands tied behind my back. Napoleon moved back into the opening stance for my set and I stood in front of him. For right now he was playing the role of Edward. He loosened the flag and hit play. As the music started I ran through the counts of my earlier moves. The first set was only sixteen counts. Edward's set with the cuffs was twenty two counts after that. I would loosen the cuffs and we had a small set that was ten counts. Then it was my turn.

"Go" Napoleon tightened the cuffs and I rolled away from him. I used the momentum from my role to get back to my feet and we moved into an identical set of moves. Napoleon was just over my left shoulder as we moved in since.

As the set came to an end Napoleon grabbed my waist and I bent my knees for the lift. We ended our run right before the lift. Napoleon didn't want to try lifting me and I was secretly grateful. If someone dropped me with my arms tied I wouldn't be able to catch myself. This was an accident waiting to happen.

Roger pulled us both aside for short interviews and he asked about the brace and I had to re-tell the story of punching Edward once again so he could add it to our clip for the show on Wednesday. He smiled and told me he had great footage of the hit that was going to play so everyone could see it for themselves.

"Do you think your injury will affect your dance this week?" He asked adjusting the camera resting on his shoulder.

I shrugged. "Tabitha and Napoleon had to change a few of the moves but its going ok." Lies! The brace was making it very hard to slip the flag on and off and if I wasn't carful it could get caught. The last thing I needed was Edward pulling on the flag and yanking on my bad hand.

"You and Edward seem to be having a lot of bad luck so far. You almost got run over, there was the flour bag incident and now you hurt your hand. Do you think fates trying to tell you something?"

"We've had some bad luck but I think we'll be ok." Fate could kiss my ass if it thought I was going to surrender this contest. I wanted to be Americas favorite dancer and nothing was going to stop me from getting there.

We laughed a bit and he asked a few question about how I felt about getting on the show and if I was still enjoying myself. He called Edward out into the hall once my interview was done and it was back to work with Napoleon for me.

"Why don't we work on the opening again Bella? Take a little brake from the flag."

I nodded along and set up to run the start of the dance with Napoleon. He danced through the opener with me at half tempo making sure I remembered all of the moves and that none of them needed to be adjusted for my brace. When Edward came back from his interview we started running the start of the dance together.

"5, 6, 7, 8"

Tabitha gave us a count in and Napoleon started our music. The song started with a drum and we both tried to make our moves as sharp as we could, following the beat. As the lyrics started we slowly worked our way closer to each other.

The music swelled and I ducked into my role. I used the momentum to get me back on my feet and swung at Edward. He fell back as I hit him in the jaw and tried to grab me as I took my second swing. I pulled back and moved to take my third swing. He spun away like Napoleon had showed him and stopped, we hadn't worked out the next move yet.

"Ok Bella, I'll show you what's next." Tabitha stood next to me and showed me how to recover after Edward would dodge my last hit.

"You gotta stumble a little bit and then turn really fast and run at him." She spun quickly on her toes, her hair flying out around her face and she ran at Edward.

She stopped right before she reached him and Napoleon showed him how to catch her. Edward would bend forward right before I reached him so it would look like I was going to fly right over him. It was my job to bend my knees so Edward could grab me. Edward would grab my legs and I would end up hanging over his shoulder upside down.

"Ok, you got all of that?" Tabitha asked as she hung upside down off Napoleons shoulder. They had just showed us the lift.

"Sure." I said sarcastically wondering if I'd offended ether of these choreographers somehow because it was clear they were trying to kill me.

"Give it a try." Napoleon encouraged us. "We'll put it together with the music later."

I took a few steps back and Edward turned to face me. "Go ahead Bella."

I took a deep breath and nodded once. If he missed me I was going to fly over his back and land face first on the stage. The last thing I needed was a broken nose to match my hand. Just do it already you big chicken! I scolded myself. I nodded once again and started moving before I could talk myself out of it.

I jumped at Edward just as he ducked down and curled my legs. He snagged me just above the knee and pinned my knees to his chest. I jerked back and grabbed at his waist to keep from falling. Edward wobbled backwards as I grabbed him and I jerked to the side to avoid landing face first.

We toppled over backwards and landed in a very ungraceful pile on the ground.

"Bella, Edward, are you guys ok?" Napoleon asked as he and Tabitha rushed over to us. I glanced at Edward and lost it. I broke into a fit of giggles and Edward joined in moments later.

"I think their ok." Tabitha said rolling her eyes at us.

"I'm ok." I said rolling away from Edward trying to untangle my legs from his.

"How's your hand?" Edward asked as he pushed himself up to his feet.

"Sore, but that's not from the fall, I'll be good." I punched him in the shoulder. "This isn't the first time I've broken something and it probably won't be the last. I'm a klutz remember?"

We had to run the jump two dozen times before we could hit it every time and not fall over. Once we had perfected getting me up onto Edward shoulder we had to work on getting me back down.

"Ok Bella once Edward standing up again I want you to grab onto his hips and try centering your weight." I grabbed onto Edward trying not to think about the fact that I was practically sticking my face in his butt. He had a cute butt even covered with black sweat pants like it was.

"Ok Edward you're going to throw her legs over your shoulder. Bella I want you to spin around as soon as you hit the ground and wrap your arms around Edward neck." He waved at us when we didn't start moving. "Well try it."

"Ready?" Edward asked.

I tightened my grip on his waist. "Go for it."

He pushed my legs over his shoulder and I pulled them under me as I landed. As soon as I hit the ground I spun on my toes and locked my arms around his neck, using his body to regain my balance.

"Very good, just like that." Tabitha clapped her hands. "Now do it again."

By the time lunch rolled around we were hitting the jump every time and I was dizzy from being thrown around all morning. My hand was starting to hurt again and Napoleon had told me to keep an ice pack on it while we ate.

Edward opened the door for me as we reached the lounge and we both hesitated outside the door. Nothing happened. There hadn't been any pranks since Edward's sticky feathers and I had a feeling both sides were trying to find the time to come up with better pranks amongst all of the dance work.

"Bella you go sit down, I'll get us both trays."

I blushed as Edward went to get our food but didn't say anything. Tabitha had him under stick order not to let me use my hand for anything. I moved over to our usual table and fell into a chair next to Alice. Angela, Rose, Ben and Jake were all sitting with her and they greeted me with curious smiles as I sat down.

"How's your hand?" Rose asked.

I shrugged and showed them the ice pack. "It's sore but I'll live."

"You'll be fine B, after the motorcycles and the cliff diving you could probably handle anything." Jake said laughing. Everyone at the table shot me identical odd looks and I blushed at all the attention.

"What?" I asked more defensively then I ment to.

"You went cliff diving?" Ben asked. "No offence Bella but I can't see it."

I shrugged. "Yeah, there's a bunch of cliffs around Jakes house. We got board so we decided to jump off them."

Edward sat down next to me and passed me a tray filled with food and two aspirin. "Oh thank you." I said popping the two little pills like a long term drug addict. I had a lot of practice swallowing aspirin with the number of injuries I'd had over my years.

"What about a motorcycle?" Edward asked rising an eye brown at me. I had kind of hoped he hadn't heard about my reckless adventures with Jake. We had been two stupid kids looking for ways to irritate our dads and bring on an adrenalin rush. I was over that phase of my life, for the most part.

"Jake found them along the side of the road. He's a wiz with cars and things like that so he fixed them up. We road around in the woods and stuff." I shrugged it off and turned to my food hoping everyone would move onto another topic. No such luck. Jake started laughing and told everyone about the trip were I'd whipped out on my bike and he'd had to drive me to the hospital so I could get stitches.

"You still got that scare Bella?" He asked.

I blushed and nodded. "Yeah, thanks for bringing it up again."

He smirked. "Want to show it to us." I chucked my spoon at him and the others laughed as he caught it and tossed it back. "What's the matter Bella, I saw it last week."

I blushed even darker at the memory. When I'd whipped out on my old motorcycle a piece of metal had broken lose and stabbed me right in the ass. I had a nice little scare from the stitches and I could no longer show my face at Forks hospital. It was impossible to get twelve stitches in your butt and not become the talk of a small town like Forks. I couldn't sit right for a week.

"You walked in on me it wasn't my fault!" I said getting redder as Jake mentioned the fact that he'd seen me naked.

"You're the one who opened the door." Jake said defending himself.

"Wait, I think I missed something." Rose said putting a stop to the smart remark I had been planning to say. "Just where is this scare Bella?"

I flushed red and locked my eyes on my plate. No way in hell I was going to talk about it. I didn't have to, Jake laughed again and told all of them exactly where my scare was.

"When Bella fell of her bike it decided to give her a little present. She's got a nice little scare right the left side of her ass. The doctor could hardly keep a straight face while he stitched her up." He shot me a cheeky little grin, enjoying my embarrassment and I flipped him the bird.

"You better sleep with your eyes open." I threatened with as much venom in my voice as I could muster. He just laughed at me again knowing full well that I wasn't really mad at him. I'd never been able to really get mad at Jake. There were times when I wanted to slap him but he would always be one of my best friends.

Thankfully no one pressed the matter of my scare or asked any embarrassing questions and topics of conversation moved to the different dances everyone was working on. Leah never wanted to hear the word tango again. Apparently nether, she nor Emmett were very good at it so they kept laughing during their practice.

"Our choreographers getting frustrated with us." Emmett added as Leah regaled us with a story about how she's kicked Emmett in the crotch as they worked on some of the leg kicks in their number.

"Just wait until I try those leg kicks in the heels she's got me wearing this week. You'd better wear a cup if you ever want to reproduce." Leah suggested shooting Emmett a smirk.

Emmett winced and the table laughed. Jane and Erik were having a lot of trouble with their waltz and either one of them had high hopes for this weeks round of judging. Alice demanded to see the jump Edward and I had been working on after we told them about it and we got a round of applause when my shoe caught on the lounge carpet and I knocked both of us to the ground.

"Let's hope it goes better then that on Wednesday." Emmett said pulling us both to our feet. Edward laughed as he sat down and I blushed. My luck seemed to be gone so chances were good we would end up falling on stage.

After lunch Napoleon had us change into our costumes and we spent the rest of the after noon working on the dance. There was a pocket on my pants that I hadn't noticed before. It was my job to make sure the flag got on stage. I would be hiding the flag in my costume until after the first flip.

"Ok Edward when she locked her arms around your neck I want you to fall to your knees. Bella as soon as he goes down you need to pull the flag out and hook his arms back."

I tied Edward's hands behind his back and we worked on his next set. Throughout the rest of rehearsal we cracked crud jokes about bondage and laughed at each other as we tripped on the cuffs. I had one move were I was supposed to role with my arms tied together and slip my legs through my arms as I stood up. Not as easy as it sounds.

"Ok, ok your done for today." Tabitha said as I tripped again. "We'll start fresh tomorrow morning and get the rest of the routine down. You both did a great job today."

Edward and I shuffled upstairs to change out of our costumes. Alice and Leah were both in the dressing room when I walked in and I let out a low whistle as Leah spun in her tango dress.

"Leah that dress practically screams sex."

She smirked at me and hooked one of her legs over a chair next to her letting the thin black fabric work its way up her thigh. "It's fantastic isn't it? The dance they've got us doing this week is so strong. It doesn't even feel like Broadway anymore."

The dark fabric hugged her curves in all the right places and made her rustic skin glow. Her hair was braided back and she had smoky make-up around her eyes.

"You might not like your dance but that dress might just keep you in this competition."

She smirked and spun in a circle so I could see the whole thing. "I think Emmett and I will be ok this week. If I can get the kicks down and Emmett can keep a straight face we might not fall on our faces." She shrugged. "And this dress won't hurt anything."

We laughed and chatted about nothing in particular as we got changed and I found Edward waiting for me when we wondered back into the main room. We all wondered upstairs and I dismissed myself from the group so I could take a shower.

"Can I come back later?" Edward asked lowering his lips near my ear so the others wouldn't hear. I nodded. "Only if you want to."

"I'll see you tonight then."He said with a wink in my direction.

He climbed up the stars and headed to his own room. I took an hour long shower with ridiculously hot water and let Rose brush my hair while I dosed off on her bed. Alice had put in a tape of last years finals and we pointed out things we liked and things we didn't about each of the final four performances.

"My favorite from last season was Katee. I was bummed when she didn't win." I said as Cat announced that Katee had come in third place.

Rose nodded along. "She was excellent, but I was glad Joshua got the title. He was amazing."

"I was kind of surprised Twitch didn't win. He always struck me as a crowd favorite." Alice added plopping down on the bed next to me.

There was a knock on the door and Alice let Tanya and Angela into the room. They sat down with us and watched the rest of the movie. It was only ten o'clock when the tape ended but we were all falling asleep.

"Ok everyone out before you fall asleep in my room." Rose said shaking my shoulder. I grumbled at her but rolled off the bed and made my way back to my room. I must have left the door open because Edward was already waiting for me when I got their already in his pajamas.

"There you are." He said tossing his book onto the counter as I came in.

He pulled me into a hug and I tucked my face into his neck. His hair was wet and it tickled my face but his sent was worth it.

"Good night." I said sleepily slumping against him.

He chuckled at me and pulled me over to the bed tucking me in before turning off the lights. He slid under the covers next to me and I snuggled into his chest.

"Good night Bella."

The rest of the week flew by in a blur of hip-hop and bright colors. Edward and I were now masters of no handed dancing. My hand was still sore and the doctor said my healing process was going slower then he had hoped it would. I shrugged and promised I would take it easy. That was a lie, I refused to let my hand slow down our work and it only made me push myself harder so I could keep up with the progress Edward was making.

Emmett and Leah were now so excited to show everyone their tango routine they hardly ever shut up about it. Jane and Erik were still dreading their waltz. Alice was trying to convince herself that strangling Mike wasn't a good idea while I was avoiding him altogether. Mike and I still weren't on the best of terms with each other after our fight before round one and when ever we talked it got heated. Something about him just got under my skin.

We didn't have a group dance to worry about so everyone got extra time to work on their solos before the dress rehearsal. Edward and I were set up to go last this week so we got to sit in the seats and watch most of the other pairs practice their dance in costume.

"We'll finally get to see why Emmett and Leah won't stop talking about that tango." Edward whispered to me as the lights fell and Cat announced Emmett and Leah's song for their practice run.

When the lights came back up we all watched Emmett take his opening pose. He was standing center stage, his tight black pants showed off his butt and his ruffled red shirt left plenty of exposed chest. He snapped his fingers as the first notes of the song rang out in the empty auditorium and walked forward as the spoken words started.

"_We have a dance!"_

He waved his hand out to include the audience as his character told us a story. The heels of the dress shoes he was wearing were the only sound you could hear apart from the soft piano and the solo violin.

"_In the brothels of Buenos Aires,_  
_It tells the story,  
Of the prostitute._"

He spun around and held out a hand in the direction of were Leah was standing. She had been dancing slowly in the back ground while the audences attention was on Emmett. As the word prostitute rang around the room a dark red spotlight fell on her making the sequins of her black dress sparkle like bloody red diamonds. She chuckled to herself and started stalking towards him as he turned out to face the audience again.

"_And the man,  
Who falls in love...  
with her."_

They both stomped on the last word as the drum started. Leah stopped behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck as the music started to swell. He reached up and yanked her arm away from him pulling her out in front of him. Leah rose onto her toes and hit four full spins before Emmett pulled her back to him holding her as close as he could.

"_First there is desire."_

Leah kicked her leg up so her foot was above Emmett shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her waist so she could lean back. The neck line of her dress plunged so deep she practically flashed us but the tight corset waist kept the dress in place.

"_Then... passion!"_

Leah jerked back up and Emmett's hand fell to grab her ass as she lowered her leg and hooked it over his hip. Leah glanced over her shoulder and winked at the audience. Emmett shoved her leg away and grabbed her wrist holding her in front of him.

"_Then... suspicion!"_

They started to move across the stage in a very violent, passionate tango set. Every now and then Leah would turn away from Emmett and wink at the audience or make some obscene gesture at the empty seats. She was playing the part of the flirty prostitute very well.

"_Jealousy! Anger! Betrayal!  
Where love is for the highest bidder,  
There can be no trust."_

Emmett held Leah's hands above her head and Leah hit another set of quick, harsh spins. After the spins they moved into a close hold and Leah pulled off a couple of fast kicks around his legs. I could see what he would have needed a cup in practice.

"_Without trust,.  
There is no love!  
Jealousy!  
Yes, jealousy...!  
Will drive you... will drive you... will drive you... Mad!"_

As Leah once again pulled away from Emmett, he fell to his knees and threw his hands in the air. The music dipped and Emmett jumped back to his feet. He and Leah were now standing on opposite side of the stage, both facing the audience. As the music swelled back to the lyrics they started moving in a synchronized set of tango moves.

_Roxanne!  
"You don't have to put on that red light.  
Walk the streets for money.  
You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right."_

They met in the middle of the stage and Emmett threw Leah up into their first lift. Leah kicked her leg out and wrapped her arms back around him as Emmett set her down.

"_Roxanne!  
You don't have to wear that dress tonight.  
Roxanne!  
You don't have to sell your body to the night_."

They moved quickly across the stage in moves that were very traditionally tango. The music swelled around them and the deep Spanish voice of the lyrics worked well with the strength of the dance. The lights danced around the stage in various shads of red and orange. Their lines were strong and the passion in their moves had everyone one of us watching shell shocked. They were fantastic and we were all doomed.

_Roxanne!  
Why does my heart cry?  
Roxanne!  
Feelings I can't fight!  
You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me,  
And please believe me when I say, I love you!_

Last week the judges had made comments that Leah and Emmett were both strong dancers. The judges hadn't thought they worked well together because they seemed to both be fighting for the led. That was the whole point of this dance and together they practically set the stage on fire.

Edward leaned into my side and moved his lips near my ear. "I didn't know he could move like that." He said softly his eyes, like mine, were glued on Emmett as he and Leah pulled each other around the stage in the passionate love story of trust and betrayal.

"They're fantastic." I agreed.

Alice was sitting on my other side and she elbowed me in the side. "Shhh"

"_Roxanne!"  
Why does my heart cry?  
"Roxanne!"  
Feelings I can't fight!  
"Roxanne!"  
You don't have to put on that red light.  
"Roxanne!"  
__You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me,  
And please believe me when I say, I love you!_

Emmett grabbed Leah as she turned away from him and tossed her into the air. Leah pulled her arms in against her chest and spun in the air. Emmett held his arms out and caught her as she fell back to earth makeing her apear weightless as he lifted her with ease. She hit the ground on her toes and spun back to him. Emmett grabbed her hands as she moved to hold him and held them above her head. As the last note of the song rang out Emmett spun Leah around to face the audience and let go of her. She fell to the ground and laid at his feet. The red spot light above them went out and the music faded away leaving them in darkness.

"Holy Hell." Erik said gapping open mouth at the stage as the lights came back on. Emmett helped Leah up and they took a bow, both breathing heavily but with big smiles on their face.

Alice jumped to her feet clapping. "What the hell was that?!?"

I stood up with her and some of the others as we clapped. Emmett and Leah bowed again both with smug smiles on their face and they turned to rush off stage so the rest of us could take our practice run. If they danced like that tomorrow we were all going home.

* * *

~Darkrose

Yippy, I was waiting to get a chance to write that dance. I wanted to find a very powerful song that would let both of those characters stand out a bit. I imagine that if Leah and Emmett really were dancers they would both be very powerful. Nether of them seems like the kind of person who would want their partner to lead.  
I'm sorry the song wouldn't stay centered. I don't know why this sight hates my computer so much, but I can never get the song to stay centered and the text to stay on the right, it just wont listen to me and it's almost one in the morning and I don't care anymore. I'll try to get it to work later.

Drop me a review and let me know what you think. The next chapter will probably be round two and we'll get to see Edward and Bella's dance all finished.


	28. Top Eighteen

This chapter was written to "Battlefield" by: Jordin Sparks.

It's snowing outside!?! What the heck? I thought we were experiencing global warming?!? This is going to ruin all of my Halloween party plans! Its way too early for this crap! (Points out window) that's not right?!? (pouts)

Chapter 28- Top Eighteen

* * *

Pov-Bella

Breakfast Wednesday morning was loud as everyone talked about the show we would be performing later tonight. Yesterdays dress rehearsal had gone better then I could have hoped. Emmett and Leah had clearly been the stars, but Edward and I had gotten through our entire dance without messing up. The only down side was that now the rest of the dancers were cracking 'bondage jokes' whenever Edward and I were around.

Edward pulled out the seat next to me and set down a tray with food. "How's your wrist feeling?" He asked as he scooted closer to me. I shot my ice pack a dark look and didn't reply. Edward already knew how my wrist was bothering me but I didn't want to say anything near the other dancers. I'd bitched about it for a half hour after Nat and Tab had finally let us go last night.

"That good hu?" He said sarcastically.

"I'll be fine." Eventually…

Emmett, Leah and Erik slid into the table with us and I moved my brace and ice pack into my lap so the others wouldn't question me while we ate.

"What's the schedule like this morning?" Leah asked, pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"Choreographers in the morning, after lunch they'll drive us to the studio so we can set up our stations with our helpers and then individual work until diner." Edward said looking at the bulletin the producers had posted on the wall next to our table.

"I can't wait until tonight." Emmett said. Leah smiled and bumped fists with him.

Napoleon and Tabitha were waiting for us up stairs and they got right to work stretching us out and making sure we had all of the transition moves down. Once they were satisfied that we had a strong grasp on the dance they slowed us down and had us run a few of the parts at half tempo so we wouldn't over work ourselves.

Tabitha pulled me aside as Napoleon tried to get Edward more comfortable with his popping. He'd come along way in the last week but it was still clear that this was not his strongest style and our choreographers were worried about losing points for technique.

"How's your hand, Bella?" she asked once we were away from the boys.

I scowled, was this the only thing people wanted to ask me anymore? What about asking my opinion on the weather? I thought it was beautiful outside the hot air reminded me of home but there was a nice breeze to keep everyone cool. "It's fine Tabitha." She blocked me from turning around and crossed her arms over her chest, not liking my half answer.

"Bella I need to know if your knuckle is still bothering you. We don't want you to permanently injure your hand."

I shied. "It's sore but, it really is feeling better then it was before." She didn't seem to fully believe me but she didn't pres any farther. Really my hand wasn't bothering me as much as it had before… Great, now I was lying to myself.

Lunch was quieter then breakfast as the pressure of tonight started to set in. Tomorrow, two more dancers would be sent home and sixteen of us would be one step closer to the title. I had a feeling it was only going to get worse as we got closer to the end. These first few weeks would take out all of the weaker dancers then it would be a blood bath to reach the end.

"Let's go get our costumes on the bus Bella." Edward said when I shoved my tray away from me, unable to force myself to eat anymore. I nodded and let him open the door for me as we walked up stairs.

Jason found us as we walked into the costume shop and said he would be waiting in our changing room by the time we got to the studio. I double and then tipple checked my costume box to make sure I had everything. I already had the flag tucked into the pocket of my pants and I made sure the pocket was buttoned shut so it wouldn't fall out. How embarrassing would it be to show up on stage and not have our prop? We would probably get eliminated for stupidity.

I met up with Edward in the hallway and we tucked our things into the storage bins above the seats on the bus. People across the street were taking pictures of the bus and Emmett and Jake were making faces at them from behind the safety of the dark tinted windows.

"What are you two idiots doing?" Alice asked as she climbed up onto the bus and saw Jake and Emmett sticking their tongues out.

"Were making faces at the people taking pictures of us." Jake said sticking his thumbs in his mouth and letting his tongue hang out.

Alice looked out the window and laughed at the people snapping pictures, completely unaware of Emmett and Jake. "I'm sorry I asked." She said shaking her head.

I pulled her down into the seat next to me so Edward sat behind us with Jasper. "Are you ready for tonight?"

She nodded. "Most definitely, our songs awesome this week and I think Mike and I worked out most of our problems."

"You're lucky you picked your style. Victoria and I got stuck with the salsa." Jasper said leaning against the back of my seat as the bus pulled out.

Alice nodded. "I saw the dress they've got her in this week, it's really hot."

"What is your leading style Jasper?" I asked spinning around in my seat so I could look at the boys. I'd become a lot closer to both Rosalie and Jasper this week but I still didn't know too much about him. He shrugged. "Contemporary with some modern Jazz thrown in."

"You like Jazz dance?" Alice asked bouncing in her seat.

He nodded. "It's one of my favorite dance styles as well as musical selection. I really like old blues and jazz music."

They started talking about jazz music and Edward mentioned a few jazz pieces he had preformed on his piano. I didn't know much about jazz music other then it always had a saxophone in it. I turned around and pressed my nose to the glass of the bus so I could see the buildings as we drove by. Vegas was so beautiful.

When we got to the building I spotted Leo standing with some of the other guards watching over us as everyone got their things into the building.

Alice pulled me over to him. "Hey Leo."

He nodded at her. "Good day miss Alice, how can I help you?"

"Rose and I are taking Bella shopping again after then next elimination round, can you go with us?"

He nodded once and I groaned. "Alice what if you just jinxed us? There's no way of knowing if we'll even all even be here on Friday."

She waved off my worries and pulled me along behind her into the studio. Leo chuckled once but said nothing as we walked away from him. "You worry too much Bella."

"I do not."

She let go of my arm and I stumbled to a stop near Edward and Jason. Jason clapped and took my costume box for me saying something about wanting to help with my hand. I had a feeling either Edward or Tabitha had told him not to let me carry anything by myself. I was a big girl now damn it!

"Thanks." I mumbled anyway trying not to glower at him. He was just trying to help and my mother had raised me with manners.

He led the way as we weaved around the other dancers and crew men. "Once you get your things put away you need to go to the stage. Since there's no group dance their going to show you the little opener move that the dancers do every season to introduce the boys and the girls." Jason helped me get my box tucked under our counter and then Edward and I shuffled onto the main stage with the other dancers.

Cat was waiting with us on stage along with two very familiar faces. Anya and Pasha from season three were standing with her and I wasn't the only one who recognized them as whispers broke out amongst this years dancers.

Once everyone was gathered Anya waved her hands and called the dancers to attention. "Welcome season five!"

We cheered a little bit and then she and her partner Pasha ran through the moves for the introduction. The moves were simple as far as dancing goes. We would dance out as a group. Cat would say our names and we would jump forward for a second of solo camera time. After the little solo we would get into groups, girls on stage right, boys on stage left. Cat would introduce the girls and we would dance forward and then she would introduce the boys, blah blah blah.

Cat would get introduced after us and she would walk down the center of our two groups. We would dance around her and scurry off stage to get changed while she introduced the judges and distract the live audience until the first pair were ready. Once everyone had the opener down we were all directed up stairs to work until diner was served.

I grabbed the flag out of our changing room so Edward and I could work on our dance. I shoved the flag into the waist band of my warm up pants since I didn't have pockets and didn't want to stick it in my bra, which is where my phone always went when I wore pants with no pockets.

What part do you want to work on?" Edward asked as he closed the door to one of the small practice rooms.

"Can we work on the flip into your set?"

He nodded. "Go for it."

I stood opposite him in the room and took a deep breath. I raced forward and leapt just as Edward bent over. He grabbed my knees to keep me from falling and I snagged his hips as he stood up. He flipped my legs over his shoulder and I landed crouched on my toes behind him. It was easier to do bare foot, like I was now, but it looked more impressive in high heels.

I spun around as soon as I was sure which way was up and locked my arms around Edward's neck as he fell to his knees. I used one of my hands to pull the flag out and tied his hands behind his back.

We didn't have the music playing so Edward was counting out each of our movements. I pushed myself up with his shoulders and leapt over him, leapfrog style, as he rolled backwards taking over the counts as he did his set.

We were a little off without the music but, we kept in time with each other as I moved back to his side. I wrapped my arms around him, keeping my back to the audience so they wouldn't see me losses the flag. As soon as his arm was free Edward grabbed my wrist and spun me around locking one of my arms behind my back so we were hooked together by the flag.

He took over the counts as I ran my set and we continued to work on our dance until Alice came in and told us diner was ready.

"You two are getting really good at dancing with that flag. I was watching you from the window." She admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Thanks"

I sat down with Alice as Edward got our diners. Most of the groups were eating together at the tables. Alice, Jasper, Edward and I took seats on the beanbags cushions.

"I'm going to have to get one of these for my apartment." Alice said jumping into the giant cushion and patting it affectionately.

"If you get one of the monster size ones you could probably hide in it." Jasper said laughing as Alice through a bit of her sandwich at him.

"I'm not that tiny." She insisted with a little adorable pout.

He smiled. "Yes you are and it's adorable, you're like a little fairy."

"Are you saying I look like Tinkerbell?" Alice asked with a scowl on her heart shaped face.

He shook his head and smirked at her. "I was thinking more along the lines of The Green Fairy from Moulin Rouge."

She smiled at him and scooted over onto his cushion as Edward took hers next to me. He passed me a sandwich and a bottle of water. We chatted through out diner and wished each other luck. There was a silent feeling of competition in the air as everyone got ready to go down stairs for the show. We were friends, at least most of us were, but we were also competitors in a contest that would make one of our wildest dreams come true.

I knew that at some point in the contest I would have to watch each one of my friends go home if I wanted to claim the title of America's favorite dancer. That or I would have to wave good bye as they moved on without me.

"Ready?" Edward asked as we followed along behind the others back down to the first floor. We could hear the live audience filling into their seats and I was kind of sad to know that no one in my family had been able to make this show.

"I'm always ready." I said trying to sound more confident then I really was.

He smirked. "Keep telling yourself that. Have you got the flag?" I pulled the flag out of the waist band of my pants and spun it around on my finger.

"Yep, I'm already to lock you up and throw away the key." He raised his eye browns, surprised by my innuendo. He really did think I was all innocent. Ha ha, stupid boy.

"There are no keys." He pointed out with a cheeky grin.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Play along."

"Are we playing a game? I was hoping you were serious."

I smacked him playfully and grabbed my solo dress of my make-up chair. Everyone would be wearing their solo outfits for the introduction dance, that way all of the costumes were a surprise when each group did their partner dance later tonight.

I slipped into the girls changing room and shed off my warm up clothes. I pulled on a bra with clear straps and a pair of booty shorts both the same color as the dark blue dress I was going to wear. The dress was made of layers of sheer fabric that ended right above my knees and tied in a halter behind my neck.

I beat Edward back into our ready room and Jason brushed out my hair so it hung in soft curls down my back. Edward came back into the room and I blushed as he looked my dress over. I chosen this dress very specifically for the fact that it was a same dark blue as the tank-top I wore to bed, Edward's favorite color.

"I love that color on you."

I smiled and closed my eyes so Jason could brush powder over them and I wouldn't have to look at him. "I know."

He slid into the chair next to me and Jason brushed out his hair letting it fall wildly around his eyes. Edward grumbled as Jason brushed a light make-up over his eyes and Jason promptly told him to 'be a man' and 'suck it up'. I laughed.

We set out our hip-hop costumes on our chairs so we could quick change and the red light near our chairs flashed, telling us it was time to go.

"Good luck." Jason called as we followed the others down to the stage entrance. It was dark and I trip twice over wires on the ground as the others moved easily past me acting like they weren't even there.

Cat was standing with some of the show workers and they called everyone into our starting lines. I slid into my place between Erik and Alice and we raced onto the stage as the opening them song ended. Cat's voice rang out around the room even though she was still back stage and the live audience roared to life.

One by one our names were called and we stepped forward to kiss ass with the audence.

"Leah"

"James"

"Emmett" Emmett raced towards the edge of the stage and threw himself backwards into a flip. He landed and waved his arms to get the crowd really going before hopping back into his place.

"Angela."

"Jane"

"Erik" Erik popped his collar and pulled out a little of his B boy moves before skipping back and slapping a high five with me as I moved past him.

"Bella" I hit a few spins and swung my legs over my head in an aerial like Nakul had showed my last week. The crowd loved and I waved as I skipped back and let Alice take the spot light.

"Alice" Alice was cute, energetic, and the crowd ate her up as she did her solo.

"Ben"

"Heidi"

"Jake"

"Rosalie" Rosalie's solo dress was different from the one she'd worn last week. This one was creamy white with gold straps and just a bit shorter then mine. She hit a few spins, letting the dress work its way up her legs as she did so and then surprised everyone with a back flip similar to Emmett's. I hadn't known she could do that.

"Laurent"

"Tanya"

"Edward" Edward slipped past Tanya and hit center stage on his toes as he spun. He moved into an aerial like I had but dropped to a role at the end. He pushed himself back up to his feet and jumped around Jasper as he moved forward.

"Jasper"

"Victoria"

"Mike"

Mike was the last solo and he hurried to move back into his spot as I moved forward with the girls.

"Here are your girls America." Cat's voice was almost drowned out by the audience. I stayed in place behind Jane as we sauntered forward and then we turned to face the boys.

"And here are your boys."

The boys danced forward and I noticed that the girls got a bigger applause. Score one point for the girls.

"And here is your host, Cat Deeley!"

Cat came out center stage and walked through our two groups. We turned and waved past her as she walked forward.

"There they are America, your top eighteen!" She screamed into her mic as the live audience took off again. Once I was past Cat and out of her spot light I picked up my pace and hurried with the others to get back stage.

It was nice getting to go last. I didn't feel rushed as I changed into my hip-hop outfit and even took the time to toss my solo dress back in my box. Jason pulled my hair up into a pony and then pinned it in a bun so loose strands hung around my face.

Jason worked his magic with a make-up brush and dusted purple powder around Edward eye so it looked like he had a bruise. Edward leaned forward to inspect his work.

"You've got a good left hook Bella, check out this bruise."

"I'm sorry about that."

We laughed and I glanced down at the monitor so I could see what was going on front stage.

"Edward look, Emmett and Leah are doing the tango number."

Edward moved over to my side with Jason and the three of us watched as they danced. The song ended and Leah feel to the ground as the bloody red spot light went out plunging the stage into darkness.

"You've guys got some competition this week." Jason said applauding quietly with the rest of us as the lights came on and the audience blew up. Emmett helped Leah to her feet and the moved to take comments from the judges.

Nigel couldn't have been happier. He loved how the strength of the dance and the song matched Emmett and Leah's individual personalities as well as brought them together. Mary was almost speechless for the first time in her life and when she did speak she gave both Emmett and Leah tickets on the hot tamale train.

"Dang it." Edward said cursing softly.

"What?"

"Emmett bet me twenty bucks that he would get on the train before I would."

I laughed already knowing where this was going."

"And you took the bet didn't you?"

He nodded. "Yep, and I just lost."

"At least you won the flower bet right?" I asked as we watched Jasper and Victoria rush past our changing room in their salsa costumes. They were on after Mike and Alice's jazz routine.

Edward shook his head. "Nope, I asked Emmett about that and he admitted to hitting on Rose but other then that first kiss we saw her give him when he got into the top twenty he said she's kind of shut him out. He said their friends and he loves talking to her but she always pushes him away when he tried to get closer. He doesn't get why she's so shy so he's trying not to push her."

I suddenly felt very awkward. Edward glanced over at me when I didn't say anything and he raised an eye brown at me. "Bella?"

I shook my head and was grateful when Jason called my back to the make-up seat. "It's nothing." I lied and quickly moved back over to where Jason was working. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to look at him and tried to hold still as Jason ran eye liner around my eyes.

The night flew by as one by one each of the pairs did their dance and held their breath for the judges comments. Jasper and Victoria got mixed reviews for their salsa whereas Jane and Erik got hit pretty hard by their waltz.

Before I knew what had happened their was only one dance left for the night and Edward and I were hiding in the shadows off stage-right waiting for the lights to go down before the commercial break. Mars gave us a que when the lights went down and we walked down onto the stage floor.

"You've got the flag right?"

Edward asked as we reached center stage. I'd already checked a dozen times but my hand flew down to feel the pocket of my pants just to make sure. I felt the cloth flag in my pocket and nodded, reassured. "I got it."

"Alright, I'll see you in a little bit."

I turned and walked over to the other side of the stage as Edward moved to the far right side. The break was only three minutes long but it was the longest three minutes of my life. I was standing near the edge of the stage and I did my best not to lock eyes with any of the people sitting near me.

Cat had already announced Edward and I and said what song we would be dancing to so when the break was over the lights came up and our music started automatically. My heart raced as the drum beat started and I began my opening set.

"_Don't try to explain your mind  
I know what's happening here  
One minute it's love,  
And suddenly it's like a battlefield."_

At the end of my first little set I ducked into my role and used the momentum to push myself back up to my feet. Edward was in position and as soon as I was on my feet I swung out at him. He reached for me after the first hit so I snuck my right hand in and punch him in the gut. A few people in the audience laughed and I took my third swing letting myself fall into character.

"_One word turns into a war,  
Why is it the smallest things that tear us down?  
My world's nothing when you don't  
I'm out here without a shield,  
Can't go back now."_

Napoleon and Tabitha had talked a lot about the story behind this song. I was leading the fight trying to understand why my relationship with Edward wasn't working. We were lovers in a fight and I tried to portray my anguish in my facial expressions as he dogged away from my last blow.

He jumped back as I spun on him and I ran at him. I forced the audience, the judges, and my wrist out of my mind as I jumped focusing everything I had on the jump. Edward ducked down and I tucked my knees up. Edward snagged my legs out of the air and locked them against his chest as he stood up. I hit his back a little harder the usual and took a second to catch my balance. I struggled against his hold a little bit as he stood up and then grabbed his waist as he flipped me over.

"_Both hands, tied behind my back with nothing,  
Oh no, these times when we climb so fast to fall again.  
Why we gotta fall for it now?"_

I landed on my toes and twisted around as fast as I could. I slipped in my spin which only added to the effect as I grabbed onto Edward's neck and he dropped to his knees. I let one of my arms fall down and yanked the flag out of my pocket. I fumbled a little bit with the flag but managed to get both of the loops locked around Edward arms before he rolled backwards. I pushed off his shoulders and let him roll under me.

"_I never meant to start a war.  
You know I never wanna hurt you.  
Don't even know what we're fighting for"_

I kicked up my legs and hit a couple of windmills as Edward danced his solo behind me trying to remember every piece of advice Tabitha had told me when she showed me how to make my moves crisp. Hip-hop dancing didn't have nearly as many rules as older, more rigorous styles of dancing did but the technique involved was harder then any other style I'd ever tried.

As I neared the end of my set I could feel Edward coming up behind me. I spun on my toes again, locking my arms around his waist. I kept my back to the audience making it look like I was just giving him a hug while I loosened the flag.

"_Why does love always feel like a battlefield,  
A battlefield, a battlefield?  
Why does love always feel like a battlefield,  
A battlefield, a battlefield?  
Why does love always feel like-"_

As soon as the first of his hands were freed he grabbed my wrist and spun me around locking my wrist into the free loop. I tried to twist away from him but fell back when the flag tying us together ran out of room. We moved into a partner dance, both of us trying to pull the other closer without giving any ground ourselves.

This move was one of the ones Tabitha and Napoleon had had to change after I hurt my wrist. Originally I would have had my right hand in the flag and Edward would have had his left so we could both dance facing the audience. After my injury they'd adjusted it so we both had our left wrists in the flag and we were facing each other.

"_Can't swallow our pride.  
Neither of us wanna raise that flag.  
If we can't surrender then we both gonna lose,  
What we had, oh no."_

Edward grabbed the flag in his hand and yanked me back to him. I swung out like I was going to hit him again but he caught my hand before I could reach him. He held my hands together and unseen to the audience I loosed the flag around his wrist. He pulled his hand free and spun me around so he could tie my hands behind my back.

"_Both hands tied behind my back with nothing.  
Oh no, these times when we climb so fast to fall again.  
I don't wanna fall for it now!  
I never meant to start a war,  
You know I never wanna hurt you.  
Don't even know what we're fighting for"_

As I rolled away from him I tried to control my breathing. I ended up kicking my own hands as I threaded my legs through my arms and my wrist throbbed painfully. I winced for a second before pushing myself up to my knees and forcing myself to keep moving. My hands were in front of me now. I planted my hands on the ground in front of me and kicked my legs up over my head.

I landed on my feet and Edward moved in behind me. He grabbed me around the waist and lifted me into the air. I hit a V kick and landed on my toes. I spun to his side and we moved into the only set of moves we had that were the same.

"_Why does love always feel like a battlefield  
A battlefield, a battlefield?  
Why does love always feel like a battlefield  
A battlefield, a battlefield?"_

At the end of the set Edward twisted away from me. I jumped after him and tossed my still connected arms around him. He grabbed onto my hands and I jumped up and locked my legs around his waist. I tucked my head into his neck trying to draw attention to my embracing him so no one would see him unhook the flag from around my wrists.

"_I guess you better go and get your armor.  
(Get your armor)  
Get your armor!  
I guess you better go and get your armor.  
(Get your armor)  
Get your armor!  
I guess you better go and get your-"_

He helped me down and I jumped away from him as he moved to hold onto me. The flag was no longer tied around my wrists but I kept it in my hand as we danced. The story in our dance was that my character was conflicted and couldn't let down her guard enough to let herself get closer to Edward's character. The music in the song grew as I turned back to face center stage.

"_We could pretend that we are friends tonight.  
(Oh, oh, oh)  
And in the morning we'll wake up and we'll be alright.  
'Cause baby, we don't have to fight,  
And I don't want this love to feel like,__  
__A battlefield, a battlefield, a battlefield?  
Why does love always feel like a battlefield  
A battlefield, a battlefield?"_

We met center stage and I moved into another set of hits. At the end of the punches I moved to pull away but Edward stopped me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back to him flipping my quickly over his shoulder again. As the song ran through the last chorus we moved into another set of partner moves.

"_Why does love always feel like.  
A battlefield, a battlefield?  
I never meant to start a war,  
Don't even know what we're fighting for.  
I never meant to start a war,  
Don't even know what we're fighting for."_

As the last few notes trailed away I turned to face Edward. He was standing just a few feet away from me. I held up the flag and let it drop to the ground at my feet. I was surrendering. As he walked over to me and pulled me into a hug the audience cheered and the lights got brighter.

"Good job Bella." Edward whispered in my ear."

I stood on my toes so my lips were at his ear. "You too."

I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck and let him swing me in a circle as Cat climbed on stage and called us over to her.

"That was fanatic you two come over here."

She waved us over and gave me a strong look as we neared her. "Are you alright dear?"

Hu? Why wouldn't I be ok?

Edward turned to towards me and whipped tears off my cheek. Why was I crying? I swatted his hand away and pain shot up my arm. Ouch! That was why. The adrenalin from our performance was wearing off and my wrist throbbed. My fingers were numb and one of the straps on my brace had come undone at some point during the dance.

"Bella are you ok?" He asked.

I nodded biting down on the inside of my cheek. I clutched my wrist against my chest and turned to face the judges. "I'm ok." Lire!

Cat nodded and turned to talk to the judges. Nigel and Mary were sitting in their usual seats along with this week guest judge, Little C.

Nigel was up first. "Are you ok Bella?" He asked. I whipped at my eyes trying to get myself to stop crying and nodded, embarrassed that I was showing this much weakness on live TV. "I'm ok. I just pulled on my hand."

He nodded. "Yes, we heard about your little accident this week. I think we have a clip of that don't we?" He asked. The screen behind us light up and I glanced over with Edward to watch it.

The clip started with a little shot of Nat and Tab talking about the fighting sequences in this weeks dance. The screen changed to Tabitha telling me to pretend to hit Edward and then me actually hitting him. Some of the audience members hissed as my knuckle snapped and some of them laughed as Edward fell over. The clip ended with Dr. Andrews telling me my knuckle was broken.

The lights came back up and I ducked my head into Edward shoulder.

"You two just don't seem to be having any luck." Nigel said and I chuckled dryly along with Edward. He commented on our technique with the flag and then called to have a medic come and look at my hand.

I blushed when Dr. Andrews came on stage and took a step back so he could look at my hand while Cat continued to talk to the judges. Mary loved the dance and had the stage crew run a clip of us tripping over each other as we worked on practicing with the flag earlier in the week. She didn't give us tickets to the hot tamale train but she commented on our dance.

Little C wanted a clip of our first jump played and he commented on the level of trust it took for someone to be willing to launch themselves head first over their partner and trust that he would catch her. He gave me good comments on my technique but noted that Edward still seemed to be struggling with the hip-hop groove.

"Hip-hop's not your leading style is it Edward?" He asked as Dr. Andrews let my hand go. He wanted me to come see him tomorrow morning so he could change the brace but I would be ok for tonight.

"No Sr. this was the first time I've ever done a hip-hop routine."

Little C nodded along and gave him props for how far he'd com in the last week. Once the judges were done giving us comments Cat told America our number and reminded them to call in and vote for their favorite dancers to keep them in the contest.

The rest of the dances came on stage and we danced together on stage as the ending theme song played. Tomorrow we would lose two more dancers but for tonight I could already tell Emmett and Jake were setting up plans for another party back at the studio.

* * *

~Darkrose

R&R let me know what you think. Reviews make me happy.

Ps: I found this new book series by a woman named Patricia Briggs. The first book is called Moon Called it's in the Mercy Thompson series. It's really good and I recommend it to everyone.


	29. Down Two More

Yippy over three hundred reviews! Thank you to everyone who reads this story and an extra thanks to those who take the time to drop me a comment. I know your all ready to find out who goes home this week so on with the story!

Chapter 29- Two More Down

* * *

Pov-Bella

I sat up quickly as the body I was lying next to moved. The room was dark so I couldn't see more then a foot in front of my own face. The clock on the bed side table read 5:03. I hadn't been able to sleep, that ment I wasn't in Edward's room. Where had I fallen asleep last night?

I tried to think back over the party Jake and Emmett had set up. I'd spent an hour dancing in the hall with the others. Edward had tried to teach me how to play darts. I hit Erik in the butt, twice and then was band from trying anymore. No darts for Bella.

Leah and I had argued about who was better, Shontelle or Beyonce. I voted for Beyonce. I'd spent sometime with Jane in Angela's room. They had put a movie in and I must have fallen asleep during it. I must still be in Angela's room then.

Now came the question I had hoped never to have to ask myself when I woke up in the dark. Who was in bed with me?

I hung my legs over the side of the bed and groaned as I stretched pleased to see that I was at least dressed. I hadn't had anything to drink last night but it was reassuring none the least to see that I hadn't had "too" much fun last night. My whole body felt stiff and even after eleven years of dancing I had sore mussels in places I didn't know could have sore mussels.

I stood up and my shoulders cracked as I stretched my arms above my head. I crept away from the bed, hoping I wouldn't step on anyone who might have fallen asleep on the floor and flipped the light in the bathroom on.

Enough light spilt across the floor that I could make out Angela's head peeking out from the covers of her bed and at least three pairs of legs lying around the room. I recognized Leah's legs by her tan skin and Jane liked to wear yellow slippers to bed so I knew she belonged to the pair of legs sticking out from under the quilt lying on the floor. I didn't remember who the last person was, and I had this funny thing about knowing who I'd slept with.

I crept forward trying not to wake anyone and peeked over the end of Angela's bed. Rosalie was lying on the floor with a pillow she had stolen from Angela, curled in a ball, dead to the world. I snuck out without waking anyone and slipped into my own room, locking the door behind me.

I took a hot shower and changed into a pair of fresh clothes before subjecting myself to going to find Dr. Andrews and getting my brace replaced. After closer inspection last night, I E, once all of the cameras projecting my every move across the country were gone, I'd learned that the velcro on my brace had hooked onto the cloth flag and yanked loose when I'd been doing my set. The strap had broken and the good doctor was going to fit me with a new one. I was glad that I wouldn't be receiving any medical bills from the show.

"Good morning Bella." Dr. Andrews greeted me warmly as I shuffled into his office. He looked wide awake and I didn't see any coffee cups on the counters. Dr. Andrews was a morning person. He lost a few points in my book.

I woke up early a lot but I sure as hell didn't like it. I always set my alarm clock up on the other side of the room so I had to get up to turn it off and I almost always had to bribe myself with the promise of a fresh shower before I could get moving.

Ten minutes later I was sick of the doctor's cheery morning self and hoping that I would never get hurt before noon. I had a new brace smaller then the last one since, even through the progress was slower then he had hoped, my knuckle was healing. I walked upstairs and let myself into the lounge without a second thought to what I was doing…My mistake.

"Bella!"

"Not again."

Something snapped and flew through the air hitting me right in the face. I reached out instinctively to grab it and dropped it again just as fast. Some had though it would be funny to launch a highlighter yellow thong at me.

I looked up saw Alice and Jane sitting on the ground by their launcher and the small black video recorder Jasper was holding as he sat in the corner trying not to draw attention to himself as he taped their prank. I was adding him to the hit list.

"That's not really my color Alice." I said calmly trying to lower her into a false sense of security. Amazingly it seemed to work. Alice was smart, I'd never believed in ESP before I met her, but if it was possible for someone to just simply know something without being told about it in advance, Alice could do it.

She smiled, obviously glad I hadn't blown up or tried to eat her and skipped to my side snagging the scrap of cloth from the floor.

"It was supposed to be Emmett's color." She said, like that made this ok.

"I think he would look better in a fall color." I said with a straight face. "Maybe dark green or a soft brown."

Alice cocked her head to the side and actually thought about it. I was trying desperately not to let the idea of Emmett wearing a thong cross my mind. It didn't work and I shivered fighting down the wave of nauseas that threatened to make me sick. Eww.

"I am sorry about that Bella." Alice said as she followed me farther into the room and watched me grab a bagel and a bottle of water.

I nodded, not saying anything. They were always sorry. Soon they wouldn't have to be sorry and I would get even. I turned with Alice as the door to the lounge opened up and Emmett walked in with Edward. Alice grumbled something under her breath that held a lot of the words I imagined she'd picked up learning to drive in New York and she stomped over to the seat next to Jasper.

Edward grabbed his food and we sat down with Emmett, Erik and Leah. Edward gave me a curious glance but had the sense not to ask in front of the others. I would tell him later when we had more time to work on our revenge plans. No matter how much teasing and poking Alice and Emmett shot at each other, they both understood that the show had to come first. We'd all worked to hard to get here to blow it on something as childish as a prank war. Nether one of them was willing to surrender; they did still have their pride. They just knew it wasn't the most important thing.

After breakfast everyone scrambled to clam solo work space. I shut myself in a studio on the fifth floor and started flipping threw my I-pod, a lot of people kept the same song for their solo song all season. It helped the audience remember who had done what and gave the judges a means to compare one solo to the next. I hadn't needed to dance a solo yet so I could change songs if I wanted to.

I was going to stick with my first choice, it was perfect.

Time seemed to move more quickly when I wasn't paying attention. I hadn't even heard the others come in. My head phones were stuck in my ears as I moved to the music playing. I had no set choreography, I just did whatever move came to me.

"Bella Bon" The arms that wrapped around my waist were strong and I was lifted clean off my feet before I had time to realize what had happened.

I struggled uselessly for a moment before I realized who it was holding me.

"Jake put me down this instant, what's going on?"

I was hanging over Jakes shoulder and he didn't even seem to notice as I wiggled trying to get him to put me down. He wrapped his arm around my legs, stopping my struggles and shifted me farther up on his shoulder as he walked out of the room.

"We tried getting your attention Bella, but you were completely out of it." Leah said as she walked along behind Jake smiling at me. I could hear more people walking in front of him but I couldn't see who was with us.

"What are we doing?" I asked trying to prop myself into a more dignified position. Eventually I gave up on that too, there was no way to make this look better.

"Its lunch time already, you would have worked right through it if we hadn't come and got you." Jake said and I could hear the grin on his face. Stupid punk.

I yanked on his hair and smirked as he cursed.

"Stop that." He said smacking me on the ass as I wiggled again. I jerked my knee up and hit him in the jaw satisfied when his mouth snapped shut.

"Watch the hands."

He just laughed and we started climbing down the stairs. Well, they climbed down the stairs, I was just along for the ride at this point.

"Don't be mad at me Bella. I'm just trying to help." He said and shifted me farther up his shoulder again. I pulled on his pony tail again. His hair was longer then mine was and I was jealous of how soft it was. I was going to have to ask what conditioner he used.

"Help with what exactly?" I asked pouting at Leah since she was the only one who could see my face. She patted me on the head.

"This way you don't have to use your hand." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "My knuckles broken not my feet. I am perfectly capable of walking."

I heard someone open the door to the fourth floor and Jake lowered me to my feet outside the lounge. Emmett and Erik were standing with us and I gave them all identical glowers. They laughed and Leah hooked an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to her side as we walked into the lounge and grabbed our food.

I wound up sitting between Jake and Leah and Emmett started regaling us with stories of the party last night. Apparently after us girls had disappeared, most of us to Angela's room, Emmett had set up Jakes dart board in the hall and the boys had held a darks championship.

"Jake made it all the way to the end, but I beat him in the last set." Emmett said shooting a smart smirk at Jake. Jake flipped him the bird as they started arguing about point values and Emmett's dirty tactics, not that Jake was any better when it came to cheating.

I picked at my food laughing along with Leah as they argued and dragged poor Erik into the fight as a third party. The door to the lounge opened and I peeked over my shoulder. Edward walked in with Alice and Jasper.

I waved a finger at him and gave him an apologetic smile when I noticed there were no chairs open by me. We hadn't had to much time to be alone this week and I was going to try my damndest to get up to his room tonight.

Leah elbowed me and smiled knowingly at me when I looked up at her.

"What?" I asked defensively turning my attention back to my food.

She moved closer to my side and lowered her voice so the boys wouldn't hear us, they weren't even paying attention.

"You like him." She said.

I nodded knowing I wouldn't be able to lie to her. I wasn't a good liar. "Yeah."

She lit up like a Christmas tree. "I knew it, have you told him?"

I shrugged and shoulders not wanting to lie to her but not able to tell her the truth.

"You should." She insisted. "I'm pretty sure he likes you too."

I nodded again and pushed some of the noodles around my plate trying to find a way to change the topic of our conversation. Luckily I didn't need to, Leah changed it for me.

"Your good friends with Jake right?" She asked lowering her voice even more.

I glanced up at her and she quickly ducked her head down to her plate. "Yeah, I've known him a long time."

She nodded but was prevented from saying anything else as Alice forced room at the table for herself and Jasper.

"Emmett scoot your chair down." When he ignored her and continued arguing with Jake and Erik she kicked him in the leg.

"Ouch, what's up midget?" He asked turning to face her.

Alice's hand darted out so fast I almost missed her slapping him upside the head. "Don't call me that." She hissed.

Jasper pulled her back a step and pulled another chair up. "Scoot down Emmett." He said pushing their chairs up to the table

Emmett moved down and I was amazed as Alice dropped into her chair without yelling at him some more. She'd turned her attention on Jasper and looked like she'd completely forgotten about Emmett calling her a midget. I'd never seen her calm down that quickly, it was wired.

Edward wasn't able to find room with us so he took a seat at a smaller table with Tanya, James, and Victoria. I tried to get up and join them but was demanded to stay by Alice. I sat back down and tried to listen to all of the different conversations while Tanya scooted her chair closer to Edward. I almost growled at her, which wasn't fair. She didn't know that he was mine now, but I was going to find a way to show her she had lost out. When had I become so possessive?

"Bella? Bella, hello are you listening?" Someone was waving their hand in front of my face. I jerked back in my seat and almost sent myself toppling over backwards.

"What?"

"I asked if you were finished yet?" Jake said nodding to my plate.

I nodded. "Yeah, sorry" He picked up my plate and took it to the garbed with his. "Thank you." I said as he sat back down.

"No problem."

We chatted for awhile longer and then everyone had to get their things loaded on the bus. I caught up to Edward in the hall and leaned into his side hooking one of my arms around his hips.

"I'm sorry about lunch."

He glanced behind us to make sure the coast was clear then kissed the side of my head. "That's ok, I would have been there faster but Alice and Jasper caught me in the hall and we started talking. I think Jasper likes Alice."

I nodded along not wanting to say anything. I was almost positive Rose hadn't talked to Emmett yet which would mean Edward was still out of the loop as well. I needed to change the topic before he noticed I was hesitating.

"Are you worried about the show tonight?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think we fell into the bottom, but I'll be worried if we did. I don't think the judges liked my hip-hop attempt."

I chuckled and pulled open the door so we could climb up the stairs. "Little C, seemed to think you had potential." I said trying to cheer him up.

It worked but not for the reasons I had hoped. He laughed and picked me up so he could carry me up the stairs. For some reason it didn't both me when he carried me. "Little C just didn't want to laugh at me on national television. Emmett's good at Hip-hop, I'm just a little white boy who wishes he could dance hip-hop." I rolled my eyes at him. So hip-hop wasn't his thing, that wasn't a sin besides, Edward was a sexy little white boy with dark green eyes. That had to count for something.

Now I was laughing and I felt bad. "You did just fine Edward. I don't think any of the judges would hold back laughing if they thought it really was that bad. That's the kind of things that give the show good ratings. Like that Simon judges from American Idol." I insisted as he set me down so he could open the door to the costume shop.

"I don't like that show." He admitted as we ducked around Max's workers as they got things ready for the show tonight.

I nodded. "The first season was pretty good, I can't honestly say I watched any of the others ones."

He shrugged. "I can't sing so it's not fair for me to judges, I just don't like it."

"Nothing wrong with that."

He ducked into the boys changing room and I slid behind the purple cloth door into the girls changing room. Max had already cleaned out my hip-hop outfit and sent it back into the warehouse of wardrobe doom so the only thing there was my little blue solo dress. I had a pair of blue one inch heels and a sheer blue scarf to top the outfit off but I wanted to keep it simple. Hopefully I would never have to use it.

I carried my box down stairs and loaded it onto the bus. It only took a half hour to get everyone ready and then we were off, heading for the studio. Hanging out before the show gave all of the dancers a chance to take a deep breath and shed some of the stress from our week of work.

We got the call to head back down stairs and get dressed and the stress set back in almost instantly. No mater how much fun we were having up stairs talking and dancing to the I-pod dock Alice had brought, it couldn't cover the fact that two of us would be gone tomorrow.

Jason fluffed out my dress and layered soft curls into my wavy hair.

"You have very pretty skin Bella." Jason commented as he brushed soft blue powder over my eyes.

"Err thanks." I said opening one of my eyes to peek a look at him.

"Close your eyes." He snapped and I smoothed out my face.

"Sorry."

He chuckled and I heard Edward laughing as well. "Shut up."

They didn't, I huffed and sat as still as I could while Jason added eye liner and mascara to my eyes, finishing it all off with a soft lipstick.

Once Jason was satisfied with my face he moved over to Edward and it was my turn to laugh at him. Edward got a light foundation and even some liner for his bottom eye lashes. Jason said the effect would make his eyes pop on the screen. Edward shivered and I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard.

"I think we missed the joke."

I glanced over my shoulder and found Leah and Rose standing in the door way watching us as I laughed with Jason and Edward pouted. I stood up and joined them.

"Edward doesn't like the make-up."

Rose giggled and Leah snorted. "Suck it up Cullen."

Edward growled low at her which only sent us all over the edge again. I slipped in behind him and ran my fingers through his hair.

"You sound like a kitty."

The tips of his ears turned red and I wanted to happy dance. For once it was me making him blush instead of the other way around. Jason swatted my hands out of Edward's hair and ran a brush through it trying to force his hair to lay flat. Five minutes of brushing later and a few drops of hair jell he had Edward's hair tamed.

The little light flashed and we scuttled down the hall with the other dances to get into place. Edward squeezed my hand and moved to go join the other boys. I grabbed his hand and pulled him back, I couldn't let him go out like that.

"What's wrong?" He asked confused as I started ruffling up his hair.

"Your hair looks ridicules all slicked back, I'm fixing it."

I fluffed up his hair and smiled as it went back to its usual disheveled, sexy, mess. Mars gave the cue for us to move and I spun on my toes and raced to the other line. I had to rush past a few of the girls as we hopped down the stairs but I made it to my place by the time the lights turned on.

The live audience roared and the lights blazed yellow and red. The music started and Cat called us forward one by one to do a solo. Edward's hair looked better and I hoped Jason wouldn't notice that I had messed with it.

"Here are your girls."

I skipped forward with the others and winked at a group of boys in the front row.

"And here are the boys."

The boys moved forward so they were even with us as cat called them out. We turned to face them and our top pods merged together.

"Let's hear it for your top eighteen America!"

The crowd roared and I posed with Edward before the spot light moved to Cat and she walked forward on the stage. I turned with the others and we hurried off stage. Cat told the audience about how the solos would work and introduced the three judges. Little C was back for judging and the audience laughed at something funny he must have said.

Mars called the dancers into lines to wait for Cat's cue. Edward and I would be in the first group with Jane and Erik, and Alice and Mike. We waited back stage until the commercial break and then walked out on stage to stand with Cat.

"Hello everyone."

She gave us all a quick hug and lined us up next to her. As the lights came up I took one of Alice's hands and one of Edwards, trying to offer support to my friends without words. They both squeezed back so I knew they understood.

All eyes were on Cat as she ran clips of our dances from yesterday to remind the people at home of who had done what dance. Alice had the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face as she and Mike danced to their jazz song. A clip of the first jump from Edwards and mine hip-hop routine, the audience chuckled as I locked his hands behind his back. Then a clip of Jane and Erik performing their waltz. Jane looked fantastic, her hair was pinned tight behind her head and the sheer cream and light green dress made her look like a fairy. I hadn't gotten a chance to see their dance on show night but their run through during the dress-rehearsal hadn't been pretty.

"Alright America its time to find out if any of these three couples fell into our bottom three." Cat said holding up her mystery card with all the answers on it.

"Alice and Mike" She paused. "Alice flourished in her home style of Jazz and the judges said that you both just keep getting better." She paused again. "Did America agree?" She peeked in the card and my heart jumped into my throat. Just say it already!

"Yes, Alice and Mike you are safe."

Alice and Mike gave each other a hug and Alice wrapped an arm around my shoulders before they raced off stage. Cat waved us to her and Jane slipped her hand into mine. I smiled down at her and saw her frown. She'd been really worried up stairs that their waltz would get her and Erik put into the bottom. I wasn't too worried about Jane if they fell. Jane was a strong dancer, Erik was probably the weakest dancer here if I was basing that off technique, he was fun and passionate and always gave a hundred percent. I had no doubt that he could go far.

"Jane and Erik, Bella and Edward." Cat moved in-between us. Never a good sign. "One of these pairs has fallen into the bottom, but was it the waltz or the hip-hop that America didn't like?" She glanced at her card and I had the strange urge to reach out and slap her.

"America liked the Hip-hop." My face blazed red and my pulse took off. We were safe. "Unfortunately Jane, Erik you have fallen into the bottom again."

I pulled Jane into a hug and Erik nodded along, they had been expecting to fall again.

"It'll be ok Jane." I said trying to offer comfort. She pulled back and smiled at me. "I'll be good, my solo's a lot of fun."

I smiled over at Erik and he nodded back. Edward took my hand and I let him lead me to the side of the stage and help me down the stairs. Alice jumped to my side and we exchanged hugs and congratulations with Mike and Edward.

Cat went to a break and Erik and Jane walked back stage as the next set of groups walked out to face their fate. The audience applauded as Cat announced Emmett and Leah's tango number had received the most votes from the night before and they were safe.

They moved forward and jumped off the front of the stage and did a little dance. They were two for two now. Their first dance had also received the most call in votes. Angela and Laurent were the next pair to fall into the bottom and I clapped along as Jasper and Victoria made it through even with their shaky salsa.

The last of the groups came out on stage and I hoped that Rose wouldn't fall into the bottom again. Rose and Ben hadn't talked too much about their dance, but Rose had said that she worked better with Ben then she had with Demetri.

"Rosalie, Ben you are safe." Cat waved them forward and they scurried off the stage to join the rest of us waiting to see who else was in danger of going home. The only pairs left on stage with Cat were Jake and Heidi, and Tanya and James. Tanya and James had fallen last week so I was hoping they would fall beneath Jake again.

"Tanya and James, you are safe. Jake, Heidi that means you have fallen into the bottom three this week."

Jake caught himself before he cursed on live TV and nodded along with Heidi. He pulled his partner into a hug and they walked off back stage while Cat moved to a break.

Tanya and James climbed down the stage stairs and join the rest of us in the waiting spot. I exchanged congratulations with James as he moved down the line and moved to give Tanya a hug too. She wasn't watching me and moved past me before I could get to her and locked her arms around Edward's next.

He pulled his friend into a hug and she shot me a smug glance over his shoulder while he congratulated her on not falling into the bottom…again. I felt my cheeks burn and cursed my face for giving her the satisfaction of knowing she upset me. She smiled bigger and whispered something into his ear at which they both laughed.

I fumed silently. She said one last comment and turned to walk away, bumping into me as she passed by. I'll admit we were a little crowded in the limited space in front of the judges, but her bump had been deliberate and I knew it. I smirked to myself, two could play at this game and she didn't even know that she had already lost.

I moved closer to Edward and wrapped his arms around my waist leaning back into his chest as Cat announced Erik's solo. I let my hair hang around my face, like a shield, and peeked over at where Tanya was standing with James and some of the other dancers. She glowered at me and I felt the smug little smirk on my face become more pronounced as I turned my attention to the stage. Edward's fingers weaved with mine and I resisted looking back over at Tanya to see if she noticed. I was willing to bet that she had.

I clapped with the others as first Erik, then Laurent, and then Jake reminded America why they had won spots in the top twenty. I clapped for all three but I definitely clapped harder for Jake. Jane came out and redid her entertaining solo to "the lady is a vamp" I laughed so hard I probably would have fallen over if it hadn't been for Edward's arms holding me up and I never missed a chance to hold onto him when Tanya was looking at me.

Ben made comments throughout Angela's solo, which she danced to "Seasons of love" from one of the few musicals I did know, RENT. It was short, sweat, and to the point, while showcasing her style flawlessly. Angela was a subtle and graceful dancer and only someone who knew what they were looking for would catch her strong lines and nearly perfect control.

Heidi was last and I was surprised by her strength. Heidi didn't have one style of dance that she was particularly strong in. I would describe her style as contemporary meets hip-hop with some of her own attitude and confidence. It worked for her and I clapped along with everyone else as she bowed and moved back stage.

"Who do you think'll go?" Edward asked lowering his lips to my ear so I could hear him over the talking while we waited for the commercial break to be over.

I shrugged not wanting to jinx any of them. "They all did a great job." I said. He squeezed me tighter.

"You're worried about Jake." It wasn't a question. He knew who I would be most concerned with. I'd told him a bit about my relationship with Jake but it was hard to explain just how much he ment to me. Jake and I had just always worked well together. He put a smile on my face every time it rained in Forks, like my own personal sun, and made visiting my dad a treat every summer.

"Yes."

The them song for the show played briefly and then Cat called the three boys out to stand with her before the judges. She pulled them all close and turned to the judges for the final word. Nigel gave them all positive comments and a few negative comments. I fidgeted in Edward's arms and then nearly punched him in the face again when I tossed my hands into the air after Nigel gave Jake the all clear to the next round.

"Yes!"

Jake took a deep breath and wished the other guys luck before jumping down to join the rest of us. I rushed forward and locked my arms around his neck. He picked me up and spun us in a circle.

"Don't you dare scare me like that again." I scolded him.

He chuckled and set me back on my feet. "Blame America it wasn't my fault."

I scowled because he was right. None of us could control how America would feel about our dances each week. I was amazed they had bought into the Bollywood dance Edward and I had done week one. Jake moved on to talk with Leah and I turned to go back to Edward.

Tanya had moved into my place while my back was turned, she had one of her arms hooked around Edwards and even though the move wasn't as intimate as my hold had been it irritated me. Tanya glanced over her shoulder and caught me watching her. She smirked and tossed her blond curls so they bounced around her perfect face like some kind of perfect blond Barbie doll. A perfect blond Barbie doll with her hands on my boyfriend. I could do nothing.

Any offensive move on my part would draw unwanted attention and any defensive move would make me look week and give her the idea I was giving up. I wasn't intimidated by her and I would find a way to show it. I turned back to the stage as Mary started speaking. I'd missed the rest of the judge's comments and Mary was dismissing the next dancer.

"I'm sorry Laurent, this is the end of your journey."

Laurent hung his head and Erik scurried off the stage faster then any of the other dancers had. He'd escaped elimination again. Cat pulled Laurent to her side and waved the girls out. Again the judges talked and we waited.

Heidi got the all clear first and slid off the stage. I briefly saw her getting congratulated by the others before I turned my eyes back to the stage. Jane and Angela stood side by side next to cat holding each others hands. I was going to lose a friend and I couldn't pick which one I would rather see go home tonight. Thankfully it wasn't my choice to make.

"Jane dear we are sorry but were not going to ask you to come back for the next round." Mary said with a soft smile on her face.

Jane nodded and bit down on her lip to keep from crying. Apparently I wasn't as strong as she was. A tear slid down my cheek as cat talked and then the rest of us hurried on stage to dance to the ending song and say goodbye to our friends.

I pulled Jane to me as soon as I got to her and gave her my hug. She seemed to have shaken off the surprise and didn't seem too shocked to be going with the waltz they had done the night before. Erik took time to say goodbye to his partner and then Cat paired him up with the partner Laurent was leaving behind, Angela.

We hung out on stage talking while the audience cleared out and then took our time packing our show things while Jane and Laurent were taken back to the studio to pack their things for their plane rides. By the time we got back to the studio they were gone.

* * *

Darkrose~

Two more dancers down. First we lost Jessica and Demetri and now we've lost Jane and Laurent. Who will be the next to fall? Bum Bum Bummm!

Sorry this took so long to get posted, I got distracted by those books I mentioned in the last chapter. I now own all of Patricia Briggs soft cover books. I went a little crazy at Boarders. I'm not aloud to go into a book store alone with money, it never ends well for my wallet. On the plus side there all really good books so I won't mind reading them over again.

I have some fun ideas coming up in the next couple of chapters because I've have new music and I want to write dance scenes to them, I'll try not to get to far off the story line, maybe I can find a way to mix them together. I'll mess with it.


	30. The Set Up

Yeah chapter 30! I'm amazed at how long this story has gotten and I still have so many more things I want to do before the shows over. This story has officially got a mind of its own and we're all just along for the ride. And, just a little note for everyone who yelled at me for getting rid of Jane. (I'm sorry) They all have to go home eventually! I didn't want to do it, but I have a very specific order that everyone needs to leave in until we get to see who wins in the end and I think many of you will be surprised at how I'm going to end this show. You'll just have to wait and see.

Chapter 30- The set up

* * *

Pov- Bella

"She really threw a thong at you?"

I nodded and smiled to myself as Edward's laughter filled his bed room. "Yes she did and I'm adding Jasper to the hit list, we should try to get him too."

"Our list's getting long, It'll be hard to hit them all at once."

"We just need to make sure we get Emmett, Alice, and Jake. Jasper and Leah will be bonus points."

"We can work with that."

We were still in our pajamas, trying to ignore the clock telling us it was almost six and we should be getting ready for breakfast. I tugged at his quilt and tucked my toes back under the blanket. He'd moved while he was laughing at me and pulled it off.

"Blanket hog."

He grabbed my good arm and pulled me closer to his side so we could share.

"Sorry."

I tucked myself into his side and rolled over so my back was to the clock. He kissed my forehead and glanced over my head.

"Do you think if I unplugged it, we could pretend we didn't know what time it was?" He asked in a whisper nodding to the clock.

I lifted myself up onto my elbows and sighed. "No, the others would just come looking for us. Alice and Rose are taking me back into town for some more shopping today and we have a taping after breakfast."

"I bet your looking forward to more Alice crazed shopping."

I shrugged. "It could be worse. I think Alice mentioned something about another club around here she wants to go see too so we all have to get new outfits."

Now he groaned. "How many clubs does this town have with in walking distance of the studio?"

"Probably quite a few, we are in Las Vegas after all. She'll probebly demand we go out after every ellimination."

He smirked over at me and I razed an eye brow in his direction.

"What?"

"Did Alice pick out your clothes again?"

I hit him with a pillow and rolled out of bed shivering at the loss of body heat. "Not yet, but I'm sure she will. I bet if you tell her what color you're going to wear she'll match us."

"I'll have to talk to her." He said following me over to the door.

Edward glanced out in the hall and made sure the cost was clear so I could scurry down to my room and get dressed. I pulled on a pair of loose jeans, a t-shirt, and pulled on a pair of ballet flats. Alice would make me change before we left anyway so it didn't matter what I wore.

I ran a brush through my hair and pulled it back into a pony tail away from my face. I walked down to breakfast and wasn't surprised to find most of the dancers already there eating. Edward had beaten me down as well and he was sitting at a table with Emmett, Tanya, Alice and Jasper already eating. To my displeasure Tanya and Emmett had taken the seats next to him so I would have to sit on the other side.

I grabbed a plate and slid into an open chair at the same table and said good morning.

"Morning Bella, you're running a little late today." Alice pointed out as she passed me the milk.

I kicked her from under the table and shrugged my shoulders. "I slept in a little today."

"Me too." Edward commented without looking up from his plate.

I blushed and turned my own attention to my food before anyone could see my red checks. Alice scooted to my side and I was distracted as she started talking about our plans for today.

"I got an outfit already picked out for you tonight Bella, inless we find somthing better in town. After we get our next styles Leo's going to meet us down by the bus."

"Are you going into town today?" Emmett asked, tuning into our conversation.

Alice nodded. "Rose and I are taking Bella shopping."

"I'm going in to, maybe we could go together."

Alice shook her head. "Nope, sorry Emmett no boys aloud on our shopping trips."

Emmett pouted. "Then I'll just have to make Eddie and Jasper go with me."

"I'll go too."

I scowled into my food as Tanya spoke up. Emmett nodded along. "Sure T that's a great idea, you can invite Victoria to come with us and the five of us could make a day out of it."

"Sounds like fun."

She smiled over at Edward and then turned her scowl on me. I matched her gaze not wanting to look away first. She was trying to make her territory in front of me and I was going to have to find a way to fight back without drawing to much attention.

I felt Alice kick me under the table and tore my gaze away from Tanya to look at her. She gave me a WTF look and I shook my head glancing around the table to make sure no one else had seen my stair off with Tanya. They hadn't noticed. Emmett was talking about the different places they could go and Tanya was talking about a restaurant she wanted to go to for lunch.

I cleared away my plate and walked with the other dancers down to the auditorium so the show could film us picking week three's dance styles. Edward and I lined up with the other pairs on stage and I purposely kept between him and Tanya. I was going to enjoy messing with her if she didn't back off real fast.

Cat came out on stage and we got a cue from the cameras to start filming. One by one the groups moved forward and the girls got to pull a style out of the magic hat of doom. Angela and Erik pulled Argentine Tango, then to their displeasure Jasper and Victoria pulled Disco. Nether group looked overly thrilled but it could have been worse.

Heidi and Jake got the short end of the stick when they pulled the dreaded Quick Step and then it was my turn to go. Edward and I stepped towards Cat and I reached into the hat hopping for something nice. My fingers closed around a card and I pulled it out opening it up towards the camera without looking at it first.

"Rumba"

I took a deep breath, oh thank you. I'd done Rumba a few times before and it was a ballroom style dance so I was sure Edward had too. Edward smiled at the card and we stepped back so the rest of the dancers could draw their styles.

Edward leaned down so his lips were near my ear. "I was hopping for a Samba."

I shook my head and leaned back so he could hear me but it wouldn't look to obvious to the camera that I was talking. "It's close."

He shook his head. "Not really."

"You'll have to take another rain check." I teased.

"I'll get that Samba out of you eventually." He promised.

"Maybe next week your luck will improve?"

He nodded. "Maybe."

Once all of the couples had drawn their cards cat said good bye to the cameras and told us the bus would be leaving in a half hour for anyone interested in going into town again.

"Bella come on. Let's go get you changed."

Alice grabbed my hand and I waved good bye to Edward as she pulled me down the stage and off to the stairs. Once we were in the stair loft she released me and we walked in silence up the stairs. Alice waited while I unlocked my door and then started digging through my clothes.

"So what was with you and Tanya at breakfast?" She asked passing me a different pair of jeans. As far as I could tell they were identical to the ones I already had on but I changed without arguing.

"It's nothing."

"If that death look was your definition of nothing, I'd hate to get on your bad side."

"She started it." I snapped defensively before I could realize that she hadn't pressed me for more information.

Alice picked out one of the shirts I had gotten from her store last week and passed it to me along with a necklace I couldn't remember getting. "And just what did she start exactly? You two looked like you wanted to tear each others throats out."

I tossed my first shirt into my pile of dirty cloths and clipped the necklace around my neck. "She's just trying to get a rise out of me, and I hate myself for admitting it, but its working really well."

"Start at the beginning and tell me what's going on." Alice instructed while I pulled on the new shirt.

So I did, I told Alice about the odd looks Tanya had been throwing me and the way she always got in-between Edward and I no matter what we were doing.

"-I never really thought about it until last night, but she's been kind of cold to me all week. I don't think I've done anything to offend her, but she just keeps pushing my buttons." I shrugged. "I don't know Alice maybe I'm reading way too much into this."

The more I talked out loud about the way Tanya had been behaving, the less likely it seemed that she was doing it on purpose. I was pretty sure I hadn't imagined the evil smirks and dark glares, but I really hadn't done anything out right to offend her. Why would she act like that?

"She's trying to mark her territory Bella. I noticed that she never talks to you, but I didn't think she'd get this upset. I didn't think she and Edward had any kind of relationship."

"They don't." I said as Alice ran a brush through my hair. "I talked to Edward about her last week. They've been friends for a while and they dance together all the time, but they've never dated or anything like that."

Alice nodded to herself and fluffed up my hair.

"It sounds to me like Tanya's jealous of how much attention Edward's giving you. You guys do spend every minute together."

I shrugged unashamed. "I like spending time with Edward."

"I noticed." She said with a smirk. "That's why the boys aren't aloud to come with us on our girls only shopping trips."

"And now Tanya's going with Edward and she's going to be hanging on him all day." I growled at my reflection as I ran eye liner around my eyes.

Alice thought about that for a while. "I'll just have to make sure you look extra hot tonight. I'm assuming Edward will be your escort tonight at the club?"

I nodded. Alice dismissed herself to go to her room and I agreed to meet her down in the lobby.

"Tell Rose I'll be down in a minute." Alice said letting her bed room door swing shut behind her.

I nodded to the empty room and let myself into the stair well. I was humming to myself as I climbed down the stairs and jumped as Tanya came around the corner. I hadn't heard her coming up.

"Sorry about that." I said trying to stay polite as I moved to the other side of the stairs and tried to walk past her.

"No Bella wait, I was just coming to find you actually."

I stopped mid step and turned back to face Tanya. She had a frown on her face and she looked over my new outfit.

"You changed." She commented.

I nodded. "Blame Alice, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"As if you didn't already know." She said with a frown glancing up and down the stairs. We were all alone. I said nothing, waiting for her to speak first.

"I was coming to talk to you about Edward."

"What about Edward?" I asked trying to keep from scowling at her.

"I want you to stay away from him." She said turning to face my fully and moving down to the same step I was standing on. I was disappointed to learn that she was taller then I was, probably closer to 5'7 were as I was only 5'4. Score one point for Tanya.

Now I frowned, no longer trying to keep my face from showing my distaste at the turn this conversation was taking. I wasn't about to let Tanya push me around. I leaned against the wall behind me, going for a look of easy confidence since I wouldn't be able to intimidate her, and crossed my arms over my chest. "He's my partner. It's kind of hard to avoid the person I'm dancing with."

Her scowl deepened, it was clear to me that she did not like me in the least and I was quickly losing any points I had left with her. Was it wrong that I was enjoying, making her look bad?

"That's not what I ment and you know it. Edward's way out of your league Bella," She took a step closer to me and I stayed still, not giving an inch to her offences move. "Edward comes from a good family, he's going to go places in life and I intend to go with him. I know him better then you do and I know his family. You don't stand a chance against me and it will be easier on you later if you just stay out of my way."

"I've meet Esme and Carlisle already. They seem like wonderful people." I said standing up straighter so we were almost touching. She wouldn't back off and I refused to step back.

"You know nothing about them. Carlisle has big plans for Edward after this show and you better not mess it up for him."

She turned on her toes and climbed up the stairs, leaving me alone. I glared after her biting back the smart remark that would only get me in more trouble. I could probably take Tanya in a fist fight but I had a feeling she would fight dirty. She'd just dropped the gauntlet at my feet, figuratively speaking of course, and I planed to pick it up and slap her with it.

I made my way down to the lobby and found Rose waiting with Leah near the doors. The bus with our giant picture on it was waiting outside at the curb.

"Hey Leah, you coming with us?"

She nodded, her long hair pulled into a braid behind her head. "Rosalie invited me. I hope that's ok."

"Of course it is Leah your always welcome. Alice should be down in a second."

"Let's get on the bus." Rose said pushing the door open.

Leah and I followed her onto the bus and we found Leo waiting for us in the front.

"Good morning Ladies, where's Alice?"

"Right here."

Alice danced onto the bus and slid into the seat next to me. She'd changed her clothes and redone her make-up.

"Alice how did you-"

She held up a finger to silence me. "I'm a professional Bella."

I rolled my eyes at her. "That explains everything."

The bus dropped us of in the middle of a giant shopping center and I watched as Edward walked away with Emmett, Tanya and the rest of their group. Tanya had her arm hooked through his again and if Alice hadn't called me and distracted me I probably would have followed after them.

We stopped at a few stores I'd never heard of before and it turned out Leah liked cloths about as much as Rose did. She and the others tried on different outfits and walked a fake runway so we could approve or disown each one. Alice demanded that we go back to Brandon's before we left so she could do our club shopping and after some arguing the rest of us gave in.

We stopped at a salon where a woman talked Leah into getting her hair done up in cornrows while the rest of us got our nails done. After fighting off one woman, who wanted to give him a facial scrub, Leo flattened himself in a corner and tried to blend into his chair so no one would talk to him.

"What do you think?" Leah spun in front of us so we could see her hair. The woman who had braided it was amazing, she looked fantastic. The braids stopped at the bottom of her skull so the rest of her hair could hang free around her shoulders.

"Very hot." Rose commented.

Leah smiled as us through the mirror she was looking in and fluffed the free ends of the braids. "I like it, I might have to get it done like this more often."

"What else do we need?" Rose asked as she looked over a map of the stores layout.

"I think we have everything." I said hoping that this would finally be the end of our shopping trip.

Leo chuckled at us. "If you keep going their will be nothing left."

"Amen." I said.

Alice nodded. "If were done here then the only place we need to go is back to Brandon's."

Leo walked along a few steps behind us as we followed Alice down the street to Brandon's.

"Your family really owns Brandon's?" Leah asked as we walked through the doors.

Alice nodded. "Yep, my mom and aunt started the first clothing line almost seven years ago and it's just kind of grown from there."

An hour later Alice had Leah in a dark green dress and Rose in a deep blue top with black jeans.

"How many people are coming with us?" Leah asked as she and Alice looked over the dresses they had picked out for me to try on.

"Eight, Angela and Ben don't want to come with tonight and Jane's not here." Alice paused thoughtfully and glanced over at me. "We should invite Tanya to come along."

"And why would we do that?" I asked trying not to let the distain seep into my voice. Apparently it didn't work to well because Leah and Rose both raised there eye brows at me.

"You don't like her?" Rose asked.

I shook my head. "I've got nothing against her. She's the one who doesn't like me."

"Let me tell the story Bella, you try this one on." Alice passed me a knee length, bright orange dress and I slipped into a free changing room while she filled Rose and Leah in on my little power struggle with Tanya.

When I came out of the dressing room Leah was laughing and it took me a moment to realize she wasn't laughing at the dress. Orange was not my color.

"She's that jealous of Bella, oh you've got to mess with her."

I nodded and spun around so everyone could see the dress. It was unanimously rejected and I slipped back into the changing room to take it off.

"And you don't even know the best part." I said struggling to unzip the dress by myself. "She threatened me in the stair well on my way down this morning."

"What did she say?" Rose asked, her voice kind of muffled by the changing room door.

"She told me to stay away from Edward and that it would be better for me if I stayed out of her way."

Leah laughed some more and the others had gone quiet.

"Do you think she stands any chance with him?" Rose asked honestly.

I shook my head before remembering that they couldn't see me.

"No" He's my boyfriend already, but I couldn't tell them that.

"Are you sure?" Rose pressed. "They have been friends along time. Has Edward noticed your little fight, does he encourage Tanya's behavior?"

I thought about that for a while. Edward had never pushed Tanya away, but she was his friend, he wouldn't treat her like that. I was pretty sure he hadn't noticed our little fight last night but that would be out of character for him. He generally seemed to know what was going on around him. He'd said the only person he ever had trouble reading was me.

"I'm pretty sure he has no interest in her, but I don't know if he saw our little fight."

"Innless Edward openly tells her that I don't think she'll stop harassing you."

"He already chose." I said to quickly, before I could bite the words back.

I came out of the dressing room and grabbed the next dress.

"Bella you're not telling us the whole story, are you?" Alice guessed.

I quickly closed myself back in the dressing room. I knew I could trust them not to tell if I asked them to, but did I really want word of my relationship getting around the house. Maybe the others would see it as us teaming up together. Would it affect my relationship with the others in the house? No, I wouldn't tell them yet. Now I just had to find a way to back track, or get them to think I ment something different. But, what would work?

"Edward told me once that Tanya had made a move on him, but he shot her down."

"Then she's in sp major denial." Leah said and I could tell she was enjoying this conversation far more then I was. "I say we invite her with tonight then we do something to drive her crazy."

"Like what?" Alice asked.

I came out of the dressing room and Rose helped me finish zipping up the back of the dress so everyone could see it. Alice nodded when I spun around in front of the mirror.

"That's the one Bella."

I nodded along. Pink wasn't a color I generally leaned towards but I really liked this dress. It was strapless and stopped halfway down my thighs. The top was tight and hugged what curves I had and the bottom swished when I walked. The layers of dark and light fabric shimmered in the light.

Leah chuckled to herself. "That dress gives me a perfect idea for what we can do tonight. Have you guys ever seen The Pink Panther movie?"

"Why?" I asked nervously.

"Because I just had a really cheesy idea and if it works, which we know it will, because it's obvious Edward likes you, will drive Tanya crazy."

"And what's this idea?" Rose asked.

"We need to go back to the studio."

An hour later we had gone back to the studio, eaten a quick lunch, changed into some practice clothes, and locked ourselves in one of the smaller studios on the fifth floor. Leah had her I-pod plugged into the sound system and was letting us listen to her idea.

"That's brilliant." Alice said with a smile.

Rose rolled her eyes. "No that's ridiculous."

"You know you want to." Leah said pausing the song.

"Is that song really from the pink panther?" I asked, I'd only seen the movie once and I couldn't remember it.

Leah nodded. "Yep, you should watch the music video sometime, I've never seen so much pink in my entire life."

"And how will this upset Tanya?" Rose asked.

"We'll get Bella to dance to it." Alice said. "Edward's crazy about her, if she flirted with him while she was dancing to this song he'd probably drool on her."

Rose nodded. "It has potential, I'll admit that."

"We should all dance to it, will just stick Bella in the middle. Alice how formal is this club we're going to?" Leah asked setting the song up to run again

"Not that formal, we could probably get the DJ to play this song if we asked him to."

"Perfect, we could do it dance circle style, get right in the middle of the dance floor and bust a move."

We spent the next two hours working on some lose choreography for tonight. Leah's strong background in hip-hop shone as she directed the rest of us. We all added moves and left a lot of places for freestyle dancing.

As our song came to an end again we all sat down to catch our breath.

"I haven't done anything like this since college." Leah said pulling her hair back into a pony tail.

"What about our group dance during Vegas week?" I asked.

She shook her head. "That was different, it was for a competition. This is for a club we're going to tonight so you can attract a boy and piss off his want-a-be girlfriend. I was part of a stomp group, in my sorority, back in school and we use to do things like this at campus dances all the time."

"I bet that was fun." Alice said.

Leah smiled. "It was always kind of a competition between us and our brother fraternity. It was a lot of fun."

"How old are you Leah, I would have guessed you were still in college." Alice asked passing a water bottle around.

Leah nodded. "I turn twenty three in July. I'm taking a semester off so I can do the show. I'm majoring in dance anyway so my teachers all thought it was a great idea."

"Let's get back to work."

I pushed myself to my feet and Leah hit the stereo to start it up again. We worked for another half hour before Alice stopped in the middle of a run and ground.

"I can't do that move Leah."

Leah stopped and glanced back at Alice.

"Which one?"

Alice sunk into her heels and shook her butt in a perfect imitation of the move Leah had just been showing her.

"You just did it." Leah pointed out.

Alice shook her head. "You have to have an ass to do that move. I don't have an ass."

Rose and I started laughing and Leah rolled her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

Alice stuck her butt out. "I'm short, I have tiny curves. You three actually have something to shake. I look ridicules trying to do that move."

"You look fine Alice. "Rose commented and I nodded along.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Easy for you to say, you actually have a butt."

Rose glanced back at her butt and shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? I'm just gifted like that." We all laughed and Leah set the music up to run again.

"You'll be fine Alice, having less butt just means you need to use more attitude."

"I think I can work with that." Alice said as she fell back into her place. For not being a hip-hop dancer Alice was getting really good.

We worked a short while longer and then broke off so we could all shower before dinner. I brushed out my wet hair and pilled it up on top of my head so it wouldn't drip allover my clothes. I pulled on a pair of lose sweat pants and a tank-top before heading down to the lounge.

I found Edward on the stairs and he looked like he'd had a long day.

"I was just coming to look for you." He said wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Why's that?"

He pulled me closer and stuck his head in my neck. "Emmett and Tanya together are a lot to deal with on an all day adventure. I missed you."

I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed the top of his head. "I missed you to."

"I got some things for our revenge plan while we were in town."

I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off.

"Don't worry I made sure no one saw what I was getting."

"Did you find a place to store it?"

He nodded. "I'll show you later

The door to the seventh floor opened above us and shut with a bang that echoed around the stair well. Edward pulled back slowly and kept his hand in mine as we headed down stairs.

"Are you ready for tonight?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yep, Alice picked out a dress for me to wear in town today."

He smirked. "I know, she brought me a shirt to wear so we match."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yep and I'm guessing from the color of my shirt that your dress is pink."

"Yep."

We walked into the lounge and got plates of food. We slipped into empty seats at a table were Alice, Jasper and Emmett were sitting. A few minutes later Rose, Jake and Tanya all joined us to.

"Where's Leah, I thought she was with you girls?" Emmett asked.

"She should be coming." Rose said, passing a pitcher of water around the table. "She was trying to dry her hair off a little bit."

"Is it true that you guys spent the day working in one of the studios?" Tanya asked glancing at first Rosalie and at me.

"Yeah, once we got back from shopping. We were just messing with some songs on Leah's I-pod."

"Today's supposed to be our cool down day?" Emmett pointed out. "You'll wear yourselves out if you keep working that hard."

I shrugged. "We weren't working that hard. It was just for fun."

"Holy cow, check it out." I glanced to my left and saw Jake starring over my shoulder towards the door. Most of the table had gone quiet and someone at another table let out a low whistle. I turned in my seat and look over at the door and see what everyone was looking at. Leah was wearing clean practice clothes, her newly braded hair hanging wet around her shoulders.

She smiled at the attention and fluffed the ends of her hair. "You guys like it?" She asked with a flirty wink. James cracked a joke about her trying to look ghetto and she flipped him off while the rest of the room laughed. She grabbed some food and sat down at our table.

"It looks great Leah." Jake commented and Emmett nodded along.

"Yeah, when'd you get it done?"

"We stopped at a salon today. I've never had my hair braided like this before."

"I've had my hair done like that a few times but I thought it looked funny." Jake said, while I chuckled at the memory of the last time I'd seen him with his hair like that. He'd been about nine years old and the woman who did the braids made them crooked so it didn't look very good.

We ate dinner and told stories about our trips into town. Alice made sure everyone knew when to meet down stairs and pestered Tanya until she agreed to come with us. Tanya shied and nodded.

"Ok I'll come with, if you really want me to." She elbowed Edward playfully. "Emmett and I can try to teach you how to club dance again." She glanced over at me. "I've taken him out dancing probebly a hundred times and he still isn't very good at it."

"Actualy, I don't think he needs us anymore T." Emmett said with a smile in my direction. "Bella had him on the dance floor the last time we went out and he looked like a natural, it was… odd. She unlocked his inner beast."

I smiled at Tanya as she scowled at me again, loving the irritated look on her face. Score one point for Bella.

* * *

~Darkrose  
So this chapter got way longer then I expected it to, so I'm cutting it in half. I'll get the next scene up as soon as possible I has two papers due this week so my writing time is going to be split, plus I need to put the finishing touches on "Operation Switzerland!"

I'm also toying with the idea of having the top ten do a tour after the show like they do in real life. It would only add a few chapters since I wouldn't write every show they do in every town, but let me know if that would be something you would want to read.


	31. Lady in Pink

This chapter was written to "Check on it" by: Beyonce

So these last two chapters were just kind of random, but I got the idea for this club seen and it just wouldn't go away, so I had to write it. I'll get back to the show and the dancing in the next chapter. I promise, I'm very easily sidetracked.

Chapter 31- Lady in Pink

* * *

Pov: Edward

"You did what?!?"

Emmett looked startled at my anger and shrugged. How could he have done this to Bella and I. We asked him to keep his big mouth shut.

"I only told T, calm down Eddie. She's practically family. Like the little sister we never had."

I glared at him but it was wasted on the back of his head. I hated that name. "Don't call me that! And we asked you not to tell anyone about what you saw Emmett, I don't care who it was. You know Tanya and I have had different views on our relationship in the past and her views do not include me being her brother."

He chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows in my direction. "I thought you two already worked out your relationship problems?"

I snorted. "We didn't have relationship problems. She said we were dating, I said we weren't. Tanya is one of the most stubborn women I know, she never lets things go."

He nodded. "Your right about that, the woman can hold a grudge forever."

"So why would you tell her about Bella?"

He shrugged again and turned back to his closet to try and find something Alice would deem reasonable for our outing tonight. "We were just talking about home and it kind of slipped out that I caught you two kissing. What's the big deal, I thought Bella wasn't your girlfriend anyway."

I hesitated and he caught it. Emmett wasn't the smarted person around but he wasn't slow. Emmett pulled himself out of his closest with a black dress shirt and smirked in my direction. "Innless of course the two of you have changed things since I caught you eating her face the other day."

I glared at him and he laughed.

"You have, haven't you?" He smiled again, a softer smile. "My little brother finally has his first girlfriend. This is a happy day."

"Emmett-"

He waved his hand. "I won't say anything to anyone if that's what you want. I'm sorry I talked to Tanya."

"It's ok Emmett. I just hope Tanya doesn't talk to Bella. I love her but she can be really mean if she wants to be."

"You can ask Bella about it at the club tonight."

Not likely, if Bella new that Emmett had talked to Tanya she would try to wring his neck. Our revenge would come soon enough. "Are you going with Rosalie tonight?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she is something else bro, lets me tell you. She's hard and confident on the surface, but sometimes where were just talking she lets her guard down and there's this soft side to her that you don't normally see." He shook his head and smiled to himself. "I really like her Edward." He admitted, refusing to look over at me.

"I thought she was still pushing you away?"

The last time Emmett and I had talked about Rosalie she was locked down. Emmett didn't want to push her but I knew this slower pace was killing him. Emmett never had been one for slow relationships. Maybe this would be a good experience for him.

"She doesn't like to talk a lot and she never talks about her life at home but I try to stay away from those topics. We talk about dancing a lot and the other dancers. She really likes Alice and Bella, their always having sleepovers and watching moves. I guess girls never get to old for things like that."

There was a nock on the door and Emmett moved to open it while I looked over the clothes Alice had given me. The jeans were mine, how she got them from my room I didn't want to know, the light pink top was a dress shirt from upstairs and the tie was black silk.

"Hey guys are you ready?"

Jasper was leaning against the door. His white shirt gave no hints to what color Alice's dress would be. Alice had insisted that the girl's outfits be kept a secret until it was time to go so all of the boys going tonight had been banned from the sixth floor after diner. Bella didn't tell Alice that she had already told me what color her dress was and I kept my mouth shut. No need to anger our little fashion pixy with trivial knowledge.

"Almost, come on in Jasper."

I pulled the shirt on and left the tie lose around me neck, I was not a fan of ties, but I wasn't about to fight with Alice. Emmett finally pulled a shirt from his closet and buttoned it up in front of the mirror. There was a knock on the door frame and then Jake let himself in.

"No wonder you're not ready yet, how much time have you spent grooming yourself in front of the mirror Cullen?" He asked smirking at Emmett who was brushing his short hair in front of the mirror.

"Shut it Black, I want to look good for the ladies." Emmett said.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Well I'm pretty sure I heard the girls go down the stairs already and if they beat us getting ready we should be embarrassed."

Emmett slipped his shoes on and grabbed a jacket. "Well we better not keep them waiting any longer then."

I pulled my own jacket on and slipping into my shoes. We waved goodbye to James and Erik who were hosting a movie night for some of the other dancers before hurrying down the stairs. Jake was right, the girls were waiting just outside the doors out of view of the doors. There were no rules about leaving the studio at night but we didn't want them to assign us a body guard so we were trying to be sneaky about it.

"Wow." Emmett let out a low whistle as we got closer to the girls.

Leah was in a dark green dress that shown almost black in the dark street. It stopped just past her knees with a slit in the back that ran all the way up her thigh. Rosalie was dressed in black jeans with a light blue top that fringed around her chest. Alice was wearing a black dress with a silver bow in the back and Tanya looked great in a tight black skirt and a purple corset top. They all looked great but as soon as my eyes found her the others all fell away.

Bella had her hair down, curling in soft waves around her neck and down her back. Her eyes were lined lightly with black make-up but that was the only make-up on her face. The dress was amazing. The dark pink and black material hugged her chest and hips stopping only inches below her waist and leaving lots of leg exposed. The straps hung lose off her shoulders not helping to hold the dress in place and the pink heels made her only an inch shorter then I was.

"You look great Bella."

She blushed but I was willing to bet the others wouldn't have noticed in the dim light. She moved closer to my side as Alice started to lead the way down the street, the opposite of the way we had gone before, and ran a finger down the sleeve of my pink shirt.

"You look good in pink."

I rolled my eyes are her and hooked an arm around her waist. "You too"

"Edward, I don't think I've ever seen you in pink before."

Tanya moved to my other side and wrapped an arm around my waist. I knew for a fact that she had seen me in pink before. We'd worn pink to a waltz competition last spring.

"I'm sure I've worn pink around you before Tanya."

She shrugged and giggled like I'd cracked a joke. "Do you like this top?" She asked skipping a few steps ahead of us and turning around so I could see her outfit again. "I think I look good in purple."

I nodded along, Tanya was a beautiful girl; she always had been. The top was a little short for my tastes but Tanya's bright blond hair contrasted with the dark fabric making both stick out more. "It looks good on you T."

"Thank you." She beamed and pranced back to my side. I let her take my arm as we walked helping both her and Bella keep their balance on the dark ground in their tall shoes.

Alice chatted about the club we were going to while we walked. It was called The Purple Line and according to Alice it was all the rage right now. We walked five blocks and then Alice started bouncing in her high heels.

"There it is look."

She pointed down the block to a large dark building. The club was three stories high and all of the windows and doors were lined with neon purple lights. This time Leah went up to the door with Alice and after a little talking the bouncer waved us through the front door.

Tanya stayed by my side as we walked in and I pulled both her and Bella closer as we walked to the other side. We should have asked Erik or James if they wanted to come along with us so Tanya would have someone to watch after her.

The club was twice the size of the last one Alice had taken us to and there were easily three times as many people. The DJ table was on a high platform in the middle of the dance floor and the music pulsed through speakers on all three levels. The bar along the far wall had stair cases lined with purple lights running behind them so the bar tenders could run up and down the different leaves.

"There are big tables on the second floor. We should go get one of them." Alice said leading us to a stair case like she'd spent every weekend in this building for the last year.

"How do you know all of this stuff?" I asked as I let Bella and Tanya pass me on the stairs.

Alice smiled and didn't answer my question. She climbed into a large circular booth table and turned the sigh on the edge to taken so we could leave without worrying about our table being taken. All of the tables, staircases and dance floors were lined in purple neon and the waiters all wore purple glow sticks around their necks.

"This is so cool." Leah said flagging down a waiter and ordering a few pitchers for the table.

"I knew you guys would like it." Alice said bouncing on her knees as she glanced over the rail near our table and looked down on all the people dancing on the first floor.

Bella pulled away from my side and I watched her move to talk with Leah. I helped Tanya up into the both after she wobbled in her four inch heels and she pulled me up into the seat after her. We sat and talked until the drinks arrived and then one by one people started heading up or down to find space on the dance floors.

Bella took my hand and nodded down to the first floor.

"Want to go dance?"

I nodded and slid out of my seat glad for the excuse to be back at her side. "Sure."

"Dance in the middle Eddie I want to show T how much you've improved." Tanya laughed and Emmett smirked at me when I glared at him.

"Yes Edward, I'm curious to see your miracle club dancing for myself." Tanya added, practically searing, she was upset about something. I would have to make sure she was ok later. She glanced down at Bella from her seat and I watched as Bella returned the hard stair before breaking eye contact and moving closer to my side. What was that about?

Bella shook her hair off her shoulders and hooked an arm around my waist as we walked away. I pulled her closer as we neared the stair case and lowered my lips to her ear.

"If you want to go to the third floor we can. You don't have to do what Emmett and Tanya say."

She shook her head and marched down the stairs without a backwards glance. "No, let's just do this."

I followed her out onto the dance floor and watched as Bella transformed. She'd seemed uncomfortable up stairs, tugging her short dress down and walking carefully so she didn't fall in the high shoes Alice had talked her into. As we walked onto the floor she started moving to the music and became a completely different person without even realizing she was changing. She walked taller in her shoes and added a swing to her hips that gave her an air of confidence and grace. She was powerful and sexy and had no idea of the control she had over everyone who watched her.

I saw her glance up and followed her eyes to where Emmett, Rosalie and Tanya were sitting. She spun around and pressed closer to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and letting her fingers brush against the hairs along the back of my neck.

I let my arms slip low on her hips and followed her into the beat of the song. It was easier this time to find the rhythm she was setting and I fell into step with her, sinking into my heels and pulling her closer as we moved together.

When the song changed she spun around behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist laying her head on the back of my shoulder. The pattern was different as she changed to the beat of the new song but I followed her lead and moved slowly with her. I would never get tired of dancing with Bella, moving with her came second nature to me now.

**Pov: Bella**

I'd started to wonder if maybe the other girls had decided against our move on Tanya. We'd been at the club for almost two hours and we really couldn't afford to stay too much longer. As much as I never wanted Edward to let go of me we did have to work tomorrow.

Leah, who to my delight had dragged Jake on the dance floor, moved a little closer to where Edward and I were dancing. She adjusted her foot and kicked me in the process. What the heck? I glanced up at her but her smirk caught me off guard. She smiled at me and then lightly jerked her chin over my shoulder.

I tried not to make my move obvious as I twisted around and wrapped my arms around Edward's neck. I glanced over his shoulder and bit my lip to keep from giggling and giving her away. Alice was up on the DJ stand, one of her hands cupped around his ear as she tried to talk to him over the deep thump of the music. She was asking about our dance.

Rose was keeping Jasper busy and that left Emmett without a partner. Emmett caught my eye and smirked at me, easily weaving his way over to where I was dancing with Edward.

"My turn to dance with Bella."

Before Edward or I had a chance to argue, Emmett grabbed my good wrist and nearly lifted me off my feet as he spun us away from Edward.

"Emmett do you mind?"

He shook his head. "Nope, I'm having a great time. You're a good dancer Bell."

I rolled my eyes, I wasn't even dancing. Emmett had one arm locked around my waist and was effortlessly twirling me around with him, while my toes hardly touched the ground.

"I was dancing with Edward." I said obviously, hoping he would get the hint and put me back.

"Don't worry, someone else will grab him. I'm not sure were Alice went but she ditched Jasper so Rosalie went to dance with him so he wouldn't be uncomfortable."

"So go dance with Leah."

He shrugged and twirled me around again. I glanced over my shoulder, back to where Edward was standing and for a moment I under stood what people mean when they say that they see red. Tanya had swooped in as soon as I was gone and hooked her arms hooked around Edward's neck. The only thing that ticked me off more then Tanya's persistent attitude was the fact that Edward had his hands on her hips and was dancing with her.

The song playing ended and the DJ's voice rose above the noise of the bar as he talked into a mic up on his platform.

"Hey everyone, check it out. We got a request tonight for some very special ladies in the house. They want to give us a little dance old school. You girls ready?" He asked looking down at where Alice was standing, right in the middle of the dance floor.

She nodded and stamped her feet a few times as the beat started. Almost instantly the people standing around her melted away, leaving her alone in the center of a ring of bodies. She held her hands out and cheers rose up around the room as Leah and Rose stepped into the circle and stood with her.

As the opening lyrics started Leah took the pinot position with Rose and Alice flanking her and they fell into the simple opening steps we had worked on. A few whistles rose from the audience as Leah played with the audience a little. She was totally in her element here.

"What are they doing?"

I jumped as Edward, Tanya, Jasper and Jake pushed their way up to where Emmett and I were standing so they could all watch. I glanced back over at Leah and she waved me forward to join them.

"Bella?"

I glanced over at Edward. He and Tanya were both staring at me. I slid around Jake and moved my lips to Edward's ear, keeping my voice low so the others wouldn't hear me.

"This was the dance we were working on."

I jumped away from him before he could say anything and took my place in front next to Leah. As the first verse started I fell in step

_"You need to stop playing round with all them clowns and the wangstas.  
Good girls gotta get down with them gangstas.  
Go head girl put some back and some neck up on it.  
While I stand up in the background and check up on it."_

I spun on my toes centering my breathing so I wouldn't get worn out to fast as Leah moved into a set of lower hip moves. She dropped to her heels and rolled backwards. I pulled her to her feet and together we spun leaping into the air for synchronized V kicks

_"Ohh, Boy you looking like you like what you see,  
Won't you come over and check up on it, I'm gone let you work up on it.  
Ladies let em check up on it, watch it while he check up on it.  
Dip it, pop it, twork it, stop it, check on me tonight."_

Leah started laughing as Alice moved away from us to free style the second set. She didn't like Leah's 'butt shaking' move so in very Alice's like form she made the move her own, adding a high kick and a few quick spins that showed off her flawless balance.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing as well. We weren't being judges and it felt nice to dance for no reason after the weeks of work and stress, but I was worried that laughing would throw my counts off. As the chorus ended I remembered why we were doing this. I was supposed to be making Tanya mad. I smirked to myself as I moved forward to take the point position. Being mean spirited had never been my style, but Tanya was really getting on my nerves. I hoped after this display she would realize that she couldn't intimidate me.

_"If you got it, flaunt it, boy I know you want it.  
While I turn around you watch me check up on it.  
Oohhh you watchin me shake it, I see it in ya face.  
Ya can't take it, it's blazin, you watch me in amazement."_

I made my move, stalking a few steps forward and waiting until I was standing right in front of Edward. He watched me with a smile on his face and raised an eyebrow in my direction. I smiled and dropping into the solo Leah had helped me with. I shook my hips in time to the music and watched Emmett lean over and say something to Edward. I was to far away and the music was to loud to let me over hear him but what ever he said made Tanya scowl so I was all for it.

_"You can look at it, as long as you don't grab it.  
If you don't go braggin, I'ma let you have it.  
You think that I'm teasin, but I ain't got no reason.  
I'm sure that I can please ya, but first I gotta read you."_

As the second part of the verse started and decided to turn up the flirty vibe in my dance. If I was going to embarrass myself doing this I was going all out. I held my hand out and pointed at Edward, before slowly curling my finger and beckoning him into the circle. The crowd watching us 'ooooed' and laughed as I singled him out. Edward hesitated and I was thankful when Emmett pushed him forward into the circle. For a split second it looked like Tanya was going to follow him in but Emmett went an extra mile and wrapped his arms around her waist after he pushed Edward, stopping her. I was almost positive he didn't know that Tanya had been planning to move, but I was thankful either way. Now she wouldn't be able to interfere without being rude.

Adding Edward into the dance hadn't been part of the original plan but I knew the other girls would be able to adjust. I took his hand and pulled him farther away from the edge hopping he would realize what I was about to do.

_"Ohh, Boy you looking like you like what you see,  
Won't you come over and check up on it, I'm gone let you work up on it.  
Ladies let em check up on it, watch it while he check up on it.  
Dip it, pop it, twork it, stop it, check on me tonight."_

The count of this song was the same as the hip-hop dance we had just done with Napoleon and Tabitha. He got it, I'd started running the moves to part of our dance last week and he fell into step as soon as he could. We didn't have the flag prop but that was probably a good thing since it wouldn't make sense with this song.

The crowed cheered as we moved together. None of the people here would know that we had worked on this dance before. I spun closer to Edward and he grabbed my arm pulling me to his chest like he had last Wednesday. I spun around, twisting out of his hold and moving to Leah's side as we started another set.

_"I can tell you wanna taste it, but I'm gone make you chase it.  
You got to be patient, I like my men patient.  
More patience, you take might get you in more places.  
You can't be abrasive, have to know to pace it."  
"If I let you get up on it, you gotta make a promise.  
That you gone put it on me, like no ones put it on me.  
Don't bore me, just show me, all men talk but don't please.  
I can be a tease, but I really wanna please you."_

Leah was having a ball flirting with the audience and even Rose and Alice had big gins on their faces as they moved. Leah was the only one completely comfortable with hip-hop as a base style and she used that to her advantage as a few boys we didn't know joined the circle and started dancing to their own choreography.

I laughed at the challenge and hung back as Leah leapt forward, only to eager to start a dance off. These poor boys had no idea what they were in for. A pair of arms wrapped around my waist and I sunk back against Edward's chest as the circle we had opened up before dissolved, moving to follow Leah and the new boy she was dancing with.

"What was that all about?" He asked spinning me around.

I kept my arms lose around his neck and smiled to myself as I watched Tanya head back upstairs with Emmett and Jasper. She glanced over and caught my eye, her dark scowled evident that she had not liked our dance.

I turned my eyes back to Edward. He glanced over his shoulder, trying to see what I was looking at. I was thankful Tanya had turned away when I broke eye contact. For some reason I didn't think Edward would approve of the petty fight I was having with Tanya. As much as I didn't like her she was still his friend.

"Nothing really, we were just messing around. Leah use to do things like that back in school. Didn't you like it?"

He pulled me a little closer and wrapped his arms farther around my waist. "I didn't say I didn't like it. This dress looks amazing on you."

I blushed, glad that the low lighting covered it. "Thank you."

We danced for a while longer before Alice came and got us.

"We need to start heading back. It's getting late."

We followed her over to the front doors and found the others waiting for us. Tanya swooped in as soon as we stepped outside and took Edward's free arm. Leah was running on an adrenalin high and about halfway home she crashed. She cussed like a sailor in protest when Jake picked her up but was out cold by the time we reached the studio.

"Bella will you help me get her up stairs?"

"Sure Jake."

I left my place at Edward's side and opened the door from Jake as he could carry her up the stairs.

"She is completely trashed." He laughed as he juggled her body trying to keep her legs from hitting the narrow stairwell.

I chuckled along as Leah mumbled to herself without ever opening her eyes. I didn't know if she could hear us talking about her or if Leah talked in her sleep like I did.

"I was pretty sure she didn't drink anything. Emmett and Rosalie were the only ones I saw with alcohol."

He shrugged. "They can probably just hold their liquor better. You guys were fantastic tonight by the way. Where did that come from?"

"Here, her rooms the second one on the right. Actually it was Leah's idea. We were just having some fun."

I pulled the door to the sixth floor out of his way and dug around in Leah's purse until I found her key. Jake watched my face as I unlocked her door and I tried to keep my expression natural. He didn't say anything, but I never had been able to hide from Jake.

"Should we take her shoes off?" He asked as he laid Leah down on her bed.

"I got it Jake."

I set Leah's shoes by the door and took off the necklace she was wearing. I found her pajamas by the end of the bed and laid them out incase she got us in the middle of the night. I left a cup of water on the bed side table along with her key and shut the door behind me.

The door to the sixth floor opened and Rosalie walked in with Alice and Tanya on her heels. Tanya smirked at me and glanced back into the stairwell waving at whoever was there.

"Good night boys, good night Eddie."

Jake chuckled at my side. "I thought Cullen hated that name?" He asked with a big smirk.

Tanya smiled back and shrugged her shoulders. "I gave him that nick name; I'm aloud to call him Eddie."

I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't mean he likes it." I mumbled under my breath half hoping she would hear me as I unlocked my own bedroom door.

"Hey, don't I get a good night?" Jake said offended.

Alice punched him, playfully in the arm as she walked past him and disappeared into her room. Rose yawned and waved, before she to headed for bed. Tanya said a quick goodnight and Jake turned on me a sneaky grin on his face that I knew all to well.

"Get over here." He said taking a quick step I my direction.

"No Jake don't-"

I giggled and protested at the same time as he swept me off my feet and crushed me to his chest. I tried feebly to escape his iron grip and only after I'd said goodnight did he put me back on my feet.

"Good night Bella, see you at breakfast."

Tanya rolled her eyes at us and shut herself in her room. I waved goodnight to Jake until the door to the stairs swung shut behind him and kicked off my shoes in the doorway of my room. I left the little pink dress on the back of my chair and raced through a five minutes shower.

I slid under the covers just as the clock on my bed side table flashed 1:05. Tomorrow was going to suck in rehearsal if I didn't get some good sleep. I would have to make sure I didn't let myself get too worn out before the competition show next Wednesday.

I tossed and turned for half an hour before I knew falling asleep was useless. I was wound up and I couldn't get the image of Tanya wrapping her arms around Edward out of my head. I rolled out of bed and stepped into my slippers. I cracked open my door and peeking into the hallway. The coast was clear. I moved as silently as I could and took a full minute to shut the large metal door to the stairs behind me. I was pretty sure all of the girls were asleep but I had no idea what was going on up in the seventh floor and if anyone was awake I didn't want them to hear me.

I cracked open the door open and let out the breath I was holding. This hallway was empty too. I hoped Edward was awake but just incase he was sleeping I taped very lightly on the door. I stood silently in the dark waiting, maybe he was asleep already? I should just go back downstairs.

I turned to leave when the door cracked open.

"Bella?"

I nodded, then remembered that he probably couldn't see me to well. "Yeah, it's me."

"I thought I heard someone knock. It's so dark I couldn't see you through the peep hole." He said and I heard him shift in the doorway. The lights were off in his room so I couldn't make out his face.

"Couldn't you sleep?" He asked and again I shook my head.

"I just came to say goodnight."

I moved forward letting my wave of confidents, and the dark covering my blush, lead me as I placed my hands on his shoulders and rose up onto my toes. We bumped noses in the dark and I could feel him shaking with laughter under my hands as I kissed him. He responded quickly, wrapping his arms around my waist and crushing me to his chest, softer then Jake had. One of his hands found its way up into my hair.

We broke away panting but he didn't let go of my waist. "You want to sleep over?"

I kissed him again, regretting the fact that I was so responsible and that his freshly washed hair smelt so good.

"If I stay up here we'll never get any sleep."

"Who needs sleep." He said breathlessly, kissing me again. I was the one who pulled away this time. I pecked him on the nose and pulled back another step.

"Good night Edward."

"Good night Bella, I'll pick you up for breakfast."

I forced myself to walk away and shut the door to the stairs a little too loudly behind me in my haist. I made it back to my room without crossing anyone's path and tucked myself back into my own bed. The sheets were cold without him to warm me up but soon my long day caught up with me and I slipped into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

~Darkrose

Also, I realized that I made a little mistake in the last chapter. I put down that Edward and Bella were doing the "Rumba" for the next round, but the dance I'm having them work on is actually more in the "Jazz Rumba" style. It's not a _big_ deal, but if you know about those two styles or have seen them they are different. Jazz Rumba is generally slower and the count structure is different. Either way, I'll fix the last chapter, I just didn't want anyone to get confused when I start calling it a Jazz Rumba.

Only 22 day's until New Moon comes out! How many people here already have their tickets for the midnight release?


	32. Aspirin and ice packs

This chapter was inspired by Maroon five. I'm a fan of their work and this song in particular. I'll write the full dance during the next show. A quick thank you to all of my reviewers, and to my beta.

Chapter 32- Aspirin and ice packs; the breakfast of champions

* * *

Pov-Bella

I was sore when I woke the next morning and at first my body protested the movement. The long hours of dancing were starting to take their toile on my body. I rolled over and glanced at the clock. Holy Crow! I flipped out of bed so fast I almost fell flat on my butt when my legs didn't cooperate. It was 6:10 and I was late for breakfast.

I stripped out of my pajamas tossing them on the end of my bed and scrounging around for a pair of sweats and a lose top I could wear. I tossed a dance skirt, my water bottle and a pair of dance heels in my bag incase I needed them during practice and started yanking a brush through my hair.

There was a soft knock on my door and I pulled it open to see Edward standing in the hallway, his hair wet from an early shower and ready for the day. Apparently I was the only one over sleeping today.

"Good morning Bella, you ready?"

"Almost, come on in."

I finished brushing out my hair and tied it back in a pony tail before slipping into my slippers. Edward garbed my bag for me and smirked at my hectic scrambling to get ready.

"Did you over sleep?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's a first."

"It's good that you're catching up."

My door clicked behind us as we walked down the stairs and I made sure we were alone before I questioned him. We hadn't gotten a change to talk about operation Switzerland last night and I was curious about the hiding place he'd found.

"So where'd you find to stash our things?"

He smiled opening the door to the stairs for me and checked, like I had, to make sure we were alone. "You know the laundry room on the seventh floor?"

I nodded, the laundry room was a place for the dancers to wash their clothes. It had five washers and five dryers and no one was aloud to do their laundry late at night because the noise kept some of the boys up.

"Well one of the washers isn't bolted to the floor like the others are. I was doing my laundry and I noticed that it moved. There's a panel behind the washer in the wall that you can pop out so workers can get to some of the water pipes. There's some extra space so I stuck our things in it. No one will think to look in the wall."

"You did." I pointed out.

He shrugged. "True, but its better then anything else we've found."

I nodded. "True."

"We've pretty much got everything we need, we'll have to get the pies right before the prank and we need to decide where to set to it up."

I smirked at him. "Where else would we set it up? The door to the lounge has been part of this prank war since the very beginning. It makes sense that we would end it there."

"You don't think they'll be expecting that?"

I shrugged. "Maybe, but they wont have a choice. If they want food they have to go into the lounge at some point and we'll be waiting."

"When?"

"What about Monday night? That's gives us two days to get everything ready and a day for everyone to get over the prank afterwards before the show on Wednesday."

"Sounds good."

I couldn't help the stupid smile on my face as we walked into the lounge and got our food. I couldn't wait to see the look and Emmett and Alice's face when we got them. One of us would have to get a video recorder from the tech guys before the big day.

"Morning Bells." Jake greated me, kicking out the chair next to him so I could sit down.

"Morning Jake."

Edward and I slid into the table.

"Morning Everyone." Edward greeted as he passed me the orange juice. Emmett waved his fork in our direction, but he was engrossed in some conversation with James and Erik.

"What are they talking about?"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Their debating guys who've been on the show before."

Erik turned to face us. "Bella, you agree with me right? Benji was totally a better dancer then Twitch right?"

James rolled his eyes. "Let it go man, Twitch could have danced circles around Benji."

"He so could not have."

"You're both wrong, so shut your mouths." Emmett interrupted. "Joshua from season four could have whipped them both with one hand tied behind his back."

"Bella you pick." Erik said pleading with me to choose him.

"Why do I have to pick?" I didn't want to be in the middle of this.

Victoria set her head down on the table and groand, her main of red hair sprawling around her shoulders. "Just pick one so they'll all shut up already."

I bit my lip and sent Erik an apologizing smile. "Sorry Erik but I think Emmett's right. Joshua was my favorite male dancer."

"Yes!" Emmett whooped and threw a fist in the air. "I told you. Thank you Bella."

Erik whined. "Ah Bella, why couldn't you just lie to him."

I shrugged. "I'm sorry Erik, Benji was great but Joshua could have kicked his ass twice before breakfast and once again after lunch."

Erik stuck his tongue out at me so I stuck my fingers in my mouth and made a face at him. Emmett laughed and I shot him a dirty look. "What?"

"Real mature Bells."

I shrugged. "It's early."

"Good point."

Conversation jumped from topic to topic with no real flow or reason until it was time to find out who we would be working with this week.

"Who do you think we'll get this week?" Edward asked as we climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure, who's choreographed a Rumba on the show before?"

"I'm not sure. I can't remember any names off the top of my head."

Roger found us in the hallway outside our studio and turned his camera on us, taping us for the rest of the world to see.

"So Bella, Edward, what are your first thoughts going into the Rumba this week? Are you nervous?"

"We both have some back ground in Rumba so I think we'll be ok." Edward said.

I nodded along. "Looking forward to it."

"Anyone you want to say hi to back home?" He asked.

Edward shook his head but I felt a stupid smile on my face. "I got one." I made a face at the camera. "Hi Summer, Hi Sam."

Edward laughed at me and swung open the door to our studio. "Let's see what were up against this week."

I didn't know the name of the man waiting for us but I was sure I'd seen him on the show before. He smiled warmly when we came in and moved to shake both of our hands.

"Edward, Bella welcome. My name's Alex Da Silva." He waved a hand at a younger woman standing with him. "This is one of my dance students Maria. She's going to be helping us this week. Are you both ready for the Jazz Rumba?"

"Definitely."

He smiled. "Ok Bella, why don't you go with Maria she'll get you some practice clothes."

What was wrong with what I was wearing? "Ok"

Maria took my hand and I followed her over to the other side of the room while Alex and Edward started talking music. Maria had me change into a pair of high heeled shows with wider heels then I was use to and a long white skirt.

"There." She smiled once I was ready. "You and Edward will have your fitting latter tonight before diner, but if you practice in these you'll be able to transition into the costume better later. The dress is full length."

"Thanks."

She smiled again. "No problem, you're going to love this dance. Alex and I have been working on it for weeks."

"You helped choreograph it?" I asked and I laced the heels tighter.

She nodded. "It's my big final project. I've been working with Alex for four years now and I guess you could say I'm about to graduate. I'm actually kind of surprised he's letting me do something for the show, but he really liked the dance so, here I am."

"What song is it to?"

"It's to "Secret" by: Maroon five. I hope you and Edward are close because this dance gets kind of heated."

I blushed and she laughed. "You'll be fine Bella, I've been watching the show and your one of my favorites, come on."

She took my hand and we rejoined the boys just as Alex started the music.

"_Watch the sunrise,  
Say your goodbyes,  
Off we go.  
Some conversation,  
No contemplation,  
Hit the road."_

"Here watch us."

Maria and Alex moved to the center of the room and started dancing to the lyrics. The moves started slow, as the lyrics started they met center stage.

"It's slower then I thought." Edward commented as we watched them move.

I nodded. "I've done a Cuban Rumba before, but that was way faster."

When they were done it was our turn. Maria pulled me aside to work on the opener and while she showed me the moves she talked about the concept of this weeks dance.

"It's sort of the story of a one night stand." She said as I mirrored her moves. "Two strangers met at a bar and even though they know nothing about each other they instantly want each other. It starts out kind of slow with a few really showy lifts and then it gets more passionate as the two characters dance together. You're going to love the dress, its gold."

I nodded along and she coached me through a pirouette.

"Point your left foot more."

I fixed my foot.

"After the spin you'll met up with Edward."

She took Edward's spot and showed me where to place my hands for the first lift.

"No offence Bella, but it'll be safer for both of us if I don't try lifting you. I'd probably drop you on my head and we'd both die."

We laughed and Alex interrupted us, walking over with Edward.

"What's with all the laughing? You're supposed to be working."

Maria rolled her eyes. "Calm down Alex. Bella got the moves down like a natural. But I need Edward if I'm going to show her the lift. I can't lift Bella."

Alex nodded. "You can have him. We're finished with the opener as well."

"Good, Bella you stay here, Edward." She took Edward's hand and pulled him to the other side of the room. "You start over here. I'll set the music up."

"I need to borrow them both for interviews when you have a free moment." Roger interrupted from his place in the corner. He'd been filming our work all morning, catching clips of Maria and I tripping over each other.

"Let me get them through the first lift then you can have Bella."

She pushed play and started counting as the guitar played the opening cords. I took a deep breath and tried to match my pulse to the slow beat of the base drum as I started moving. My first set was a combination of four sixteen counts moves. I'd always struggled more with slow songs then fast songs. In fast songs if you miss a step or your face isn't just right, you're moving so fast that sometimes it doesn't get caught. We would be completely exposed in this song. Every flaw evident before the expert eyes of the judges.

As I moved forward I tried to let myself fall into character. It wasn't hard to flirt with Edward as we neared each other and that only made our performance more believable. On the first of my spins I grabbed the tie holding my hair back and pulled it out letting my hair fall loose around my shoulders and batted my eyelashes at him. Eat your heart out Cullen.

Maria loved it. "Just like that Bella. You've got to tease each other in these first moves. I'm adding that hair move to the final dance. I'll talk to Max about changing your hair style so you can pull it out on stage. Why didn't I think of that?"

Edward missed one of the steps and she stopped us, running back over the moves to refresh us and had us start from the top. Once we could get the entire opener down she let Roger take me for my interview.

"We'll get to the lift after lunch." Maria promised.

I followed Roger out into the hall and he pulled a couple of chairs out of a closet so we could sit down near a window looking over the city.

"Ok Bella, now that you've had a few weeks to get to know Edward. What's your favorite part about working with him?"

He's a great kisser, I blushed, glad that Roger couldn't read my mind. That would have been embarrassing. "Um…? That's a good question. My favorite part about working with Edward? Edward's a very strong dancer but, in a very subtle way. He's always very confident in both of us and I think that makes me a stronger dancer and us a stronger team overall."

"Ok" He nodded. "Now the opposite, what's the worse part about working with Edward?"

"He's got a hard jaw." I said instantly holding up my bandaged hand. He laughed at my joke like I hoped he would and continued with his questions.

"How is your hand, since you brought it up?"

"It's getting better. As long as I don't push it to fast, I should be able to take the brace off by the end of next week. The break wasn't too bad and it's healing well."

He adjusted his camera. "Have you gotten a chance to get to know some of the other dancers on the show?"

"Oh sure I have. Everyone hangs out after practice and we eat all our meals together."

"Have you made any particularly strong friendships?" He asked.

I nodded. "Well I've known Jake for years so we were already really close. He's practically my brother. But other then him, I've really gotten to know Alice and Rosalie probably the best. I've spent some time with Leah and Jasper. Emmett's always fun to hang out with. Angela was my room mate for the callbacks so were pretty close and I auditioned in Phoenix with Erik so we've gotten to know each other. Their all really good people and it's an honor to get to work with them+."

"Is there anyone in particular that you don't get along with?"

I wasn't about to say anything bad about Tanya that would get aired on TV. I didn't need bad publicity making me look like a bitch and I didn't have it in me to bash her publicly either. What I thought or said about her in privet was a different matter. Sometimes I wish that I was capable of being a purely mean spirited person. It just wasn't my style.

"No, we all get along pretty well for the most part. We tease each other a lot, and then there's the prank war, but it's all in good fun."

"So there's no fighting back stage? No one's playing any mind games to try and throw off the competition?" He asked, trying to get me to be more specific.

I shook my head. "No." That wasn't a lie, completely. Tanya and I weren't fighting, she just didn't like me and I wasn't particularly fond of her as a person either and I would certainly never try to sabotage her either. I'd kick her butt fair and square.

"That's all I need Bella, you can go back now."

"Would you like me to send Edward out?" I asked as I stood up.

He nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, thank you."

I let myself back into the lounge just as Edward was lifting Maria up onto his shoulder. She kicked one of her legs straight up and rolled across his shoulders. Edward helped her drop down and she hooked one of her legs around his hips.

"Just like that, very nice." Maria complimented him as they finished the lift. "Now you've got to do it with Bella."

"I'm not sure I can bend like that." I admitted walking forward. "That was a sick lift."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Maria said untangling herself from Edward's hold and dancing to my side. "Does Roger need Edward now?"

I nodded. "If you can spare him for a moment."

"Go head. Alex can try the lift with Bella while you're gone."

Edward ducked out of the studio and Maria pulled Alex out into the middle of the room.

"Ok Bella, watch closely we'll show you a couple of times."

She ran through the last eight counts of my opener and spun into Alex's arms. He put his hands on her waist and she braced hers on his shoulders. They bent their knees together and he hoisted her into the air as she jumped. Once she cleared his face Maria twisted and kicked her leg up so she was sort of straddling Alex's right shoulder. Alex had one hand on her thigh, keeping her from slipping off his back and held her up as she laid across his shoulders.

Alex switched his hold from her leg to wrapping one arm around her waist as she slid down his side and hooked her leg around his waist, using his body to help her regain her balance. The entire lift lasted only about ten counts but if we could hit it, it would be amazing.

"Wow" I was doomed.

Maria was all smiles, obviously proud of her hard work on this routine. "You like it?"

"I've never done a lift like that before." And I'm not sure I can.

"Do you want to see it again?" She asked

I nodded. "Please and thank you."

I watched Maria and Alex run the lift two more times before Maria demanded that I try it out myself saying that I would only learn by doing. I grimaced, and apologized in advance incase I kicked Alex in the face.

"Don't worry about it." He said with a smile. Had he not seen my work on the show already? I'd manage to hurt myself and my partner.

"Why don't you start at the beginning to warm yourself up and make sure you remember all of the moves. Then you can get the feel for the whole start of the dance." Maria suggested setting the music back up at the beginning.

I nodded along and started at the top focusing to make sure I got all of the moves right. I needed some work to clean them, but that would come with repetition. Maria was talking as I worked, pointing out things I needed to clean and counting off the steps for me. I did my best to listen but I found it easier to count to myself. Listening to an outside voice threw me off, I was good at mussel memory and got all of the moves right.

"Ok Bella, get ready."

I moved into the pirouette and then spun on my right foot so that I was right next to Alex. He put his hands on my hips and I braced myself on his shoulders as I jumped. I over shot the landing and slipped off his shoulder before he could settle my landing.

My legs were still hooked around his torso so Alex fell with me as we crashed to the ground in a rather ungraceful pile of limbs. "Ouch."

"You two made that look so much easier." I mumbled pushing myself to my knees

"We've been working on it for a long time." Alex said rubbing his head.

Maria pulled Alex to his feet and offered me her other hand. "At least you didn't kick him in the face."

"It's not the legs you got to watch out for, she's got a mean left hook." Edward joked as he and Roger came back into the room.

I groaned. "Roger go away, I'm just going to fall on my ass again."

He grinned and hooked his camera up on his shoulder. "It's my job you catch you falling over each other."

I debated flipping him off but thought better of it, the camera was running and FOX was a family station, they wouldn't want me flipping anyone in the audience off. They could always edit that part out, the less noble side of me said but I shoved the un-polite Bella away.

"Just don't stand to close or you'll get a lens full of Bella feet." I warned.

Maria set the music up at the beginning and had us run the start of the opener a few times to refresh our memories before we started on the lift. After the fourth time in a row of me pulling us both to the ground she let us go to lunch.

At lunch we got two trays of food and I pulled two ice packs out of a small fridge on the counter ment just for them. I gave Edward and ice pack and he passed me some aspirin.

"Thanks."

We sat down the others gave us funny looks.

"You two look beat." Jake commented as we sat down.

I couldn't decide where I wanted the ice pack the most. My whole body was one big sore spot. In the end I sat on it once it became clear I was not going to be able to sit down properly without it. Edward pressed his against his head and I apologized again. On our last fall he'd hit his head against the floor pretty hard.

"We've got a particularly nasty lift this week." Edward said in explanation to the others who were waiting for one.

I shook my head. "The lift is great, I just suck at it."

"Maybe you could talk to your choreographer and asked him to change the lift for you." Tanya suggested as she and James slid into seats at the table.

I shot her a dirty look. "We'll get it down eventually, we just need to work on it some more."

She shrugged. "It might be a good idea not to push yourself to hard this week Bella. You've already been injured once. Next time you might not be able to continue dancing in the competition. If you can't do it I'm sure they'll understand."

I bite my tongue from a particularly nasty come back and was grateful when someone else stepped in for me.

"I'm sure they'll be just fine. I bet everyone's having trouble today." Alice said shooting me a understanding look. Ever since the incident last week I'd been noticing more and more the little things Tanya did to belittle me around the other dancers and it was clear that Alice was taking notice too.

"We'll get it down T don't worry." Edward said swigging from his water bottle, completely unaware of the secret meaning behind her words.

I glanced around the table. The only ones who'd caught Tanya's double meaning was Alice and I. Emmett, Jake, James, Erik were all blissfully unaware, eating their food or talking amongst themselves. I mentally rolled my eyes. Boys could be so thick sometimes.

After lunch it was back to work were I got to know the floor on a very personal level. Once I could keep my balance on his shoulder there was the fact that I had to not kick him in the face then once we got that down. I had to role across his shoulders without falling off, not kicking him in the face and falling on my butt when my feet got back on the floor.

"Ouch" I let off a couple more colorful words as I landed on the ground again and Alex clapped his hands.

"I think you two can be done for the day. Your fitting's in ten minutes upstairs."

"We'll get that lift down tomorrow." Maria promised and I felt the odd sensation to skip rehearsal tomorrow.

We thanked them for working with us and said we'd meet them tomorrow. Maybe.

"Come on Bella, let's head upstairs."

I followed Edward out into the hall and took off the shoes Maria had let me wear. We made our way down to the costume shop and sat just inside the door out of the way to wait for our turn. Angela and Erik were already there both in full costume.

Angela was moving slowly in a full length, deep purple dress full of pins and Erik was pulling on the bow tie around his neck in a crisp black suit.

"Looking good guys."

Angela smiled and spun in the dress for me wincing when one of the pins poked her. "I'm not sure if purple is my color."

"We could try a dusty rose colored dress I have in the back if you want?" The woman helping Angela get around offered, as she adjusted some of the pins. "It might be closer to your size too." She added as an after thought.

Angela swapped dresses and we all agreed that the second one was better. The lighter color commplimented her pale skin and was closer to her size. Once they changed out of their costumes it was time for Edward and I to get fitted. A woman dressed in Max's team uniform had me strip down and helped zip me into a floor length gold dress.

The dress hugged all of the right curves and had a slit on the right side that stopped just an inch sort of my waist. She pulled the hem up just a couple of inches and pinned the fabric in place before passing me the shoes. They could have been worse. The shoes were the same bright gold as the dress with a thicker heel and straps that laced up my calf. They almost reminded me of the kind of shoes you saw Greek goddesses wearing in old Ittalion paintings.

Once I was declared decent she let me out into the main room so I could see Edward in his outfit. Edward was dressed in black dress pants and a button up shirt the same gold color as my dress. He had a gold scarf tied around his waist and looked completely edible. I blushed and thanked every god listening he couldn't read my mind. How embarasing would that be?

I got the satisfaction of watching his eyes widened when I stepped out before he could compose his face and spun in a circle so he could get the full effect of the high cut slit. "Like it?"

He nodded and held his arms out, spinning like I had. "You?"

"Very nice."

We changed back and headed down to diner for another round of hot food, ice, and aspirin to help heal the aches and pains. I was sitting with my back to the door so I missed the grand entrance but all at once the other dancers who already had their food started clapping and laughing.

I twisted around in my seat to see what was so funny and clapped along with the others. Emmett and Leah were still in costume. Leah had on a light purple bikini top and a bright green grass skirt with matching wrist band. Emmett was wearing brightly colored board shorts and a flower lay. They took turns bowing and then got their food.

"So what's with the outfits?" I asked when they slid into seats next to Edward and myself.

"It's for our jazz number." Leah said.

"We're supposed to be from Hawaii." Emmett added. "We're dancing to that song 'Hawaiian rollercoaster ride'. It's a lot of fun."

Leah nodded along. "And I get to be a hula girl."

"You too look like your dance is coming along." Emmett commented as he looked us over and noted the icepacks.

"We're getting there."

It didn't take long for the others to join us. With only sixteen dancers left we'd taken to pushing the tables into the middle so everyone could sit together. Angela and Erik were having more fun then they thought they would with their Argentine Tango. Jake and Heidi had spent all after noon kicking each other as they tried to learn all of the quick kicks in their quick step dance. Over all everyone was doing fine for the first day, I think the biggest shock of the night was when Jasper and Victoria announced that they couldn't wait for their disco dance because it was going to be amazing.

I was particularly worn out after today and decided going straight to bed after diner was the smartest move in my book.

"You going to bed already Bells?" Jake asked as I stood up and dismissed myself from the table.

I nodded and rubbed at my sore shoulder. "I'm going to boil myself in the shower until I resemble a lobster then I'm going to bed, yes."

I dumped my tray and waved goodnight before letting myself into the hallway. I made it to the stairs before I heard the door to the lounge open again and Edward caught up to my before I'd gotten more then a few steps up the stairwell.

"Bella."

I turned to face him and had my hands locked in his hair before his even wrapped around my waist. For about the length of a minute I let myself forget about the show and everyone in it. It was just me and Edward sharing a rather heated kiss in the cement stairwell of a giant Las Vegas dance studio. Nothing odd about that sentence, nope.

When we finally pulled away to catch our breath he pressed something into my hand. I glanced down at the little black rectangle and grinned.

"When did you get a video recorder?"

"I talked to Roger about our plans during my interview and he loved it. He said we can use that camera to film the big moment and he also told me where we can find some pies in the kitchen downstairs that the crew uses for their meals."

"You're a genius."

He smiled my favorite smile. "Thank you, you coming up tonight?"

"I need to shower first but, yes. I'll be up later."

He dropped me off at the door to the sixth floor and I raced to my room. I hid the camera under my bed and took a record breaking three minutes shower in almost hot water. I tied my wet hair behind my head and slipped into my pajamas and snuck upstairs.

* * *

~Darkrose

I'm sorry this took so long but I'm not going to sit here and give you some long windded excuse. I should get the next chapter up soon hopfully before NewMoon comes out. Nine Days left! give or take a few hours depending on where you are in the world.


	33. Operation Switzerland

You've all been waiting for it so here it is the great prank war continues.

I'm sorry this took so long to get posted (Long winded excuse about: life, family, New Moon, School, and Thanksgiving, getting in the way that nobody really wants to hear) that and I'm trying to work slower so I catch more of my mistakes before I post my chapters. Dosn't mean I'll get them all but hopfully it will be better.

Chapter 33- Operation Switzerland

* * *

Pov-Bella

5:35-

Say we're done, say we're done, say we're done. I chanted to myself as I fidgeted in place. I glanced at the clock over the door again, 5:36.

I knew it was only because I was anticipating tonight, but practice today seemed to be moving at increasingly slow pace. Maybe the clock was broken and it really was time to go. I mentally rolled my eyes, even I knew that wasn't possible. Was it? I glanced at the clock again, 5:37. The clock looked like it was moving alright. Kind of slow, but alright.

Say we're done already! I was going to start tearing my hair out here.

"Set up at the middle part again." Maria said rewinding our music a little tapping her foot as she ran over our dance in her head. "Right after the second lift. I want to work on timing some more."

Dang it!

It was Monday and my eyes had been glued to the clock all day. 5:42 and twenty-two second. Diner was at 6:30 and it was time to put our prank in motion. If Maria and Alex didn't let us go soon I was going to have to text Roger and get him to come let us out.

Edward and I had both agreed that telling our choreographers that we wanted to skip out on practice early so we could prank the other dancers wasn't a good idea. Maria and Alex were good at letting us out a little early so we could have a moment to cool down before diner but we would need extra time to set up today and Roger was going to be our back up incase we needed an out. He would come in and say he needed to do an interview quick before dinner and spring us.

Edward shot me a look of understanding as we got into place and Maria started the music again. We'd been working like crazy people all day in the hopes she would let us out early. We'd come a long way since Friday. We could do all of the lifts without falling over and our bruises were starting to heal. I had a particularly nasty dark purple and green one on my thigh which I hoped would clear up before the show. Last thing I needed was more injuries getting aired all over the country. I was already on my way to owning the record for most injuries in the course of one season. I should get some kind of "_klutz of the season"_ trophy.

Edward took my hand as we counted through some of the opening music and then Maria moved along with us as we started the slow steps. Edward had one hand on my waist and I had one on his shoulder as we moved together dancing across the room in a close hold.

"Keep your arms up. Just like that. Edward, point your toes or I'll break them." Marie coached us as we danced following our movements like a hawk trained on a mouse at diner time. One mistake and we were goners.

We made it all the way to the end without Maria stopping us and as the music came to an end Edward let go of my hip and helped me hop gracefully up onto his shoulder. He wrapped one arm across my thighs so I didn't fall off and we hit the ending pose with the last strum of the guitar. This dance was going to look amazing with the lights.

"Yippy!" Maria clapped her hands and bounced on her heels. "That looks so good you guys. I can't wait until you perform on Wednesday."

I ran the fingers of my good hand through Edward's hair as she and Alex talked about what we still needed to work on cleaning. Edward tilted his head back so he could look up at me and I tightened my hold on his hair as I wobbled.

"Having fun up there?" He asked with that sexy little smirk of his.

I grinned and kicked my feet a little bit. "Yes I am. Are you going to let me down?"

He grinned again and shook his head as best he could while still looking up at me. "Nope, you're stuck up there."

I snapped my fingers in fake disappointment. "Darn it." I glanced over at Alex and Maria to see if they were looking at us. They weren't, they were both bent over some of their papers talking about the dance. I took my moment and bent over and press my lips to his.

He smiled into the kiss and I tugged on his hair again as I almost slid backwards off his shoulder. He winced as I regained my balance.

"Sorry."

He shrugged. "It was worth it."

"Ok you two, were done for today. Great work." Edward helped me down as Maria and Alex came back over to where we were working.

They thought we were making very quick progress now that we could do the "_lift of death" _near the beginning. We grabbed our things as quickly as we could and raced up the stairs. We both tossed our things on my bed and hurried to the laundry room.

I helped Edward pull the washing machine out of the way and we grabbed our bags of things from the super secret hiding place in the wall. We got down to the lounge just as crew member were starting to set up our diner. They laughed when they saw what we were doing but didn't make any attempts to stop us. I had a feeling the crew was enjoying watching the pranks almost as much as the dancers were.

Edward had stolen the pie launcher from Alice's room and when I asked him how he did it he told me some things were better left unanswered. I didn't press the topic right now since I didn't really care how he got it but I was determined to find out someday.

We'd decided in the end that our prank would come in three parts. Who ever opened the door would trigger the flour sack waiting with a tare in it to powder our unsuspecting victims. Part two was the pie launcher. That was my job. And part three was the brilliant part. Edward would be waiting in the hall outside the lounge to hit whoever missed most of the flour and pie with a pillow we'd stolen from Emmett's room.

We realized we were trying to hit too many people since the door to the lounge was kind of small but our main targets were going to be Alice and Emmett.

"Are you ready?" Edward asked as I set the trigger on the pie launcher.

I set our pie in place and tapped the tips of my fingers together trying to look evil like the villain in some old mobster movie. "They won't know what hit them."

He chuckled. "I'll go wait outside."

As soon as he was safe out in the hall I double checked to make sure the flour sack was set and clipped the trigger for the pie launcher in place. I turned on the small black handheld camera Roger had given us on and set it on a chair next to me so I would have my hands free but we wouldn't miss anything good.

I sat down behind the pie launcher and tapped my foot impatiently while we waited for the others to get out of their rehearsals. I jumped when I heard the unmistakable sound of the heavy door to the stairs slam shut and then voices in the hall. I put one finger on the trigger waiting for the door to move and tried to pick out individual voices from the hall.

I could hear Emmett and Leah laughing and to my delight Alice was yelling at them for something. We had them both right were we wanted them, just a bit farther.

"Alice you guys wait up."

I was leaning forward in my seat trying to hear everything that they were saying. The new voice was Jasper and it sounded like he and Victoria were just coming out of the stairs. I listened to them talk and my skin itched with anticipation as they slowly got closer to the lounge door.

"Would you lot get out of the way? You're taking up the whole hallway" Someone ordered, and I jumped again as the door knob spun. The bag of flour twitched as the door swung open and then all hell broke loose in a puff of white smoke.

"Bella don't!"

It was too late. I hit the trigger on the pie launcher once the flour fell and smiled with satisfaction as the pie made contact with one of the figures yelling in the cloud of white dust with a thick _splat_ sound. Emmett's voice rose above the others in volume but it was little Alice using the most colorful words.

I couldn't tell individuals apart but one figure out in front step forward and fell to its knees. Her chest covered in pie and her hair powdered white by the flour Tanya had been the unlucky person who set off our trap. As the flour settled I started to place voice to the other faces.

Emmett and Alice were standing in the hall with Leah and Jasper. They were all dusted with flour but for the most part they were clean. Edward was lying on the floor in front of them, the ripped pillow leaking feathers on him and it looked like he may have tried to push his way past them.

Tanya hadn't said a word and her eyes were locked on my face as I tried to remember how to stand up. Edward pushed himself to his knees and glanced back and forth between us.

"Bella, I tried to stop her." I wasn't quite sure who he was talking to. "It was an accident."

"That was awesome!"

Leave it to Emmett to break the silence that had followed our prank. He threw a fist in the air and then he and the others out in the hall started laughing again.

"You should see your face T. You look good in pie." He said happily hooking his hands under her arms and hoisting first Tanya and then Edward to their feet. "Damn if you hadn't gone first I would have walked right into that. I own you so big."

Tanya still hadn't said a word. Her eyes narrowed as she turned on me and I scrambled to my feet. The feeling of being the mouse trapped in front of a hawk came back and I wasn't sure I was going to get away this time.

"You did this on purpose!" She yelled effectively shutting the others up as all eyes in the room feel on Tanya and I.

"How was this on purpose?" I yelled back instinctively moving to defend myself. "We were trying to hit Emmett and Alice." I explained.

"That's not very nice." Alice said grabbing a plate and passing one to Jasper as they ignored us and started to get their dinners.

"Tanya it wasn't meant for you honestly." Edward said trying to whip the pie off her.

Tanya growled and lunged a step forward at me. I flinched back reflexive and Emmett hooked an arm around her waist, lifting her clean off her feet and stopping her from coming after me.

"How do you know she didn't do it?" Tanya asked pointing an accusing finger at me. "She's never liked me Eddie and this just proves it. I could have gotten hurt; you tried to sabotage me in the competition!"

"No I didn't!"

"It wasn't just her Tanya we were working together." Edward said holding out the pillow he still had clutched in his fist.

"You were helping her! We were supposed to be working together in this competition. You, me, and Emmett were going to be a team and then this girl shows up and ruins everything. I bet she's just using you to get herself ahead in the competition."

"I am not using him!" I yelled at her moving forward, only to have my path blocked by Jasper as they held us apart. Jasper grabbed my arms and pulled me back a step and Tanya tried unaffectedly to get around Edward.

"Hey. Whoa. Time out, Tanya." Emmett set her down and took a step back holding both hands up in front of him leaving Edward alone as he kept her from coming after me. "Leave me out of this."

"You guys were working together?" Leah asked her hands on her hips and she moved to stand closer to Alice and Victoria. All three of them looked confused and Leah looked pretty upset.

"That's not fair." Victoria added scowling at Emmett, Edward, and Tanya. Dancers weren't aloud to work together in the competition. It was twenty on twenty and anyone caught trying to sabotage another dancer would get kicked off. We all knew the rules.

"We aren't working together." Emmett insisted moving farther away from Tanya and Edward. Edward nodded his agreement. "Our partnership ended once we got to Vegas. We know we have to fight against each other."

Tanya huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, pie dripping on the floor by her feet. Lemon cream pie, the yellow color would die her shirt and I did feel bad about that. Then I remembered the camera, we had this entire fight on film. I snagged the little black recorder of the chair and snapped it shut so it would stop recording.

"You recorded that?" Tanya yelled. "You better not let them air that allover the country. I'll never forgive you." I could live with that.

"Tanya we really didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry, are you ok?" Edward asked.

She shook her head, her curls weighed down by flour and pie making the whole effect look pretty pathetic. Someone let out a low whistle and all eyes in the lounge turned to the door. Jake, Rose and James were all standing in the doorway and I could hear more dancers coming down the stairs. It was about to get crowded.

"What happened in here?" Rose asked stepping carefully over the mess in the door to join the group near the food table.

"Eddie and Bella tried to prank the King but they missed and hit Tanya." Emmett said with a laugh easing the tension in the room. "It was fantastic." He added giving me a thumbs up. "Not worthy of the _King_ but a good show all the same. A for effort."

Edward had pulled Tanya off to the side and I couldn't hear what he said as they talked. He tried whipping more of the pie off her shirt but she got angry and stormed out. He shot me an apologetic look and then ran after her.

"You want some help cleaning up?"

I jumped as Alice appeared at my side. I'd been watching Edward run down the hall after Tanya and hadn't heard her come over.

"Um? Sure thanks Alice. You don't have to."

She shrugged and hefted the pie launcher onto the table so she could check it over. "No problem, it was part of the deal I made with Edward so he could use the launcher."

"Deal?" I asked, Edward and Tanya momentarily forgotten. She nodded and smiled up at me, passing me a towel so I could help her clean off the pie launcher.

"In exchange for using the pie launcher he told me when you were going to do your prank so I could avoid it." She motioned to her almost spotless outfit. "I was trying to make sure Emmett was the first one threw the door but then Tanya pushed past us and set it of early."

Emmett and a few of the crew members helped us clean up the floor and then Emmett and Alice made a formal agreement, in front of the other dancers as witnesses. That the prank war was officially over and they were calling it a tie until after the show. We all agreed that, thou entertaining, the competition was worth to much to be distracting ourselves with anything and the prank war was causing too much drama.

I picked at my food threw dinner, my eyes locked on the lounge door. Emmett and Tanya never came back and when Alice asked if I wanted to watch a movie with her and Rose, after diner in her room, I declined. Edward didn't answer when I knocked on his door so I retreated to my room and took a long shower.

After my shower I piled my hair in a bun on top of my head and changed into my pajamas. I brushed my teeth, cleaned up my room, and was still to antsy to think about going to bed. I flopped down on my bed and had to jump back up and grab the camera before it fell off the other side.

I glanced down at the handheld with the footage from downstairs and felt guilty. We really hadn't meant to hit Tanya. I hadn't been sad when we did. She was right about one thing, I didn't like her. But she didn't like me either so we were even.

I'd wanted to like Tanya at first. She was Edward's friend and I didn't want her to be a source of tension between us but, she had made it very clear that she didn't like me around him and I had a feeling she would be willing to act on that.

I stared at the camera for another ten minute, trying to decide what I wanted to do with it, before erasing the entire thing. Getting pictures of a pie covered Tanya aired all over the country wasn't worth the fight we were going to have later and I knew it was coming. Tanya wouldn't let this go without a few well chosen words and I would be ready to apologies when she confronted me.

Why'd I have to be such a nice person?

"Bella?" There was a soft knock on my door.

I rolled slowly to my feet and let Edward in. He shut the door behind him and leaned against the wall as I flopped back on the bed.

"Is she ok?" I asked, my voice muffled by my pillow.

"Yes." He said.

"Dose she hate me?" I asked.

"Yes." He said and I could hear a chuckle in his voice. "But I have a feeling she hated you before this afternoon. Tanya hates every woman who's ever spoken to me to some degree, you shouldn't take it personally."

I lifted my head and glanced up at him. "What do you mean?"

He pushed himself off the wall and laid down next to me. "Remember when I told you about the time Tanya wanted us to be more then friends?"

He paused so I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well she never really got over my rejection. I tried to be polite about it but, maybe being rude would have made my opinions clearer. Tanya's always hoped I would change my mind and she gets pretty jealous."

"Then why do you hang out with her?" I asked.

"She's been my friend for along time." He said. "She and her two sisters are very close to my family. Esme would never forgive me if I hurt her too badly. She considers them the daughters she never had. Poor Esme got stuck with me and Emmett."

We chuckled and I tucked myself into his side. I hadn't noticed his hair was wet but, he smelt like his shampoo.

"She was so mad downstairs." I said softly.

He chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Tanya's bark is worse then her bite, I promise you that. Her pride was pretty badly bruised but, Emmett and I have done worse to her in the past. She'll get over it and, unfortunately for us, she'll probably get even."

"You have?"

He nodded. "This isn't the first time I've tried to dethrone the prank king." He said playing with a strand of my hair. "This is just the first time I've had help and it made her feel worse because you got it on film. She'll be fine."

Umm? I hung my head off the end of my bed and glared at the camera, which was sitting on the floor were I'd tossed it after erasing the footage. I'd let Tanya guilt me into getting rid of it because I thought she had honestly been hurt and I hadn't wanted to embarrass her farther.

"About the film Edward." I said pushing myself up on my elbows.

He followed my gaze to the camera and then smiled at me. "You erased it, didn't you?"

I blushed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Bella come back here."

I'd rolled off the end of the bed and was lying on the floor by the camera. Stupid camera, stupid Tanya, stupid prank war.

Oof. "Ouch." Edward landed on the floor next to me. His landing hadn't been as smooth as mine and he hit his head on the floor.

"You ok?" I asked.

He glanced over at me. "No I'm not. Your floor bit me." He pouted, an expression that would have brought Alice to her knees.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" I offered rolling closer so I had him pinned between me and the end of the bed. He smiled so I pushed myself up onto my elbows again and kissed his forehead.

"There all better."

He rolled himself over so he was hovering above me. "Actually it still kind of hurts." He admitted trying to look pathetic. He was so dang cute.

I kissed his forehead again letting my lips trail between his eyes so I could kiss the tip of his nose.

"Better?"

He shook his head. "Nope, still hurts."

I kissed the end of his nose and let my lips work their way across his check and down until I kissed the side of his mouth. "What about now?" I whispered against his skin, smiling in satisfaction when he shivered.

Then his lips were on mine. My arms wrapped around his back so my fingers could knot themselves in his hair and I pulled him closer, every line of our bodies matching up like two puzzle pieces. When he finally pulled away we were both panting for breath and my quilt had somehow gotten pulled down on the floor with us.

"I think its better now." Edward said kissing me again. This kiss was softer, slower then before, and it only lasted a moment. It was perfect.

"You really shouldn't pick a fight with the floor." I said winking at him. "Trust me on this one, the floor always wins."

"It's not the floor that's against you Bella." He said tossing both me and the quilt back onto the bed. "It's gravity."

I snuggled into his side as he hit the lights and joined me under the quilt. I was already to fall asleep when something from earlier reminded me of one more thing I had to say. I rolled over and flipped the bed side lamp on.

Edward squinted at me in the sudden light sheilding his face with his hands. "What?"

I flicked him in the nose and he jumped away from me.

"What did I do?" He asked.

"Why did you tell Alice about our prank?"

He laughed. "She was going to find out anyway so I figured I'd get her on our side and make us look good. She might be tiny but I wouldn't want to run into her in a dark ally."

"How was she going to find out?"

He shrugged. "If you haven't noticed yet, Alice is kind of freaky with just knowing things."

I nodded, I had noticed. "It's like trying to lie to my mom." I agreed. "You just can't do it."

"At least now she's on our side." He pointed out.

"Your brilliant, but they called off the prank war at dinner. It's officially over and they ruled it a tie."

"I'm impressed, Emmett's never agreed to a tie before."

I smiled. "Alice is good."

He nodded and flipped off the light, pulling me against his side and the blanket over our heads.

"Good night Bella."

* * *

~Darkrose

So? . . . . Who loved New Moon? I've already seen it four times and we're going on Wednesday again. WOOHOO!  
It was a million times better then Twilight. My hat comes off to the new director and I can't wait for Eclipse to come out June 30!

(Did anyone else notice that Jake was _kind of_ hot?) . . . .(Like you want to fan yourself with your hand and drool, kind of smoking hot.) Maybe it was just me but I'd take a slice of that anyday.


	34. Top Sixteen

I had a request that I list off the pairs again, I should have thought of that sooner sorry. I'll start listing them whenever the chapter is a round of the competition just so everyone remembers who's partnered with whom. Partners will start changing after the top ten so then we'll get to mix it up a little bit.  
Edward and Bella  
Alice and Mike  
Erik and Angela  
Ben and Rosalie  
Leah and Emmett  
Heidi and Jake  
Victoria and Jasper  
Tanya and James.

Chapter 34- Top Sixteen

* * *

Pov-Bella

"Dancers I need you all to head downstairs for me, your costume helpers are waiting."

"What's the Time Check?"

"Half hour until we air."

"Everyone downstairs please."

I shuffled along with the other dancers out of our diner room as the stage manager and a couple of his helpers called us down stairs. Backstage was a lot of noise and action as everyone got ready for tonight's live show and I could hear the buzz of talking from the front house which ment they had already let the audience in. Jason was waiting for us. He gave us both big hugs and whished us luck.

"Go get changed Bella." He passed me my solo dress for the opening sequence.

I slid on a pair of flats and laid out my gold dress for the quick change. Edward and I would be going last this week so we would have plenty of time to change and watch some of the other dances before it was our turn.

"How do you want your hair Bella?" Jason asked as he dusted eye shadow on my face.

"Leave it down, I'm not going to do anything fancy in the opener."

He nodded running a brush threw my hair before moving onto to Edward. Edward got foundation across his nose, eye liner for his bottom lids and Jason made a few dirty remarks about how his hair never laid flat.

"My mother used to say the same thing when she tried to do my hair." Edward said, taking my hand and following me through the dark backstage hallway to where the other dancers were waiting for our cue to go on stage.

"I can't picture Esme using some of those words." I admitted. I'd only met Edward's mother once but I'd loved her instantly. She was just so sweet.

"You can ask her about it tonight if you want." He offered.

"She's here?"

He nodded. "Yep and so is my father, they said they were bringing a couple of friends so we'll have to go see who they dragged with them afterwards. Probably the dean of some school my father wants me to go to."

"Has he talked to you more about med school?"

"A little, he'd probably flip if I went to Stanford. That's where he got his medical license back in the day."

I let out a low whistle and was shushed by a stage hand. "Good school."

"Yeah it is. It's ranked like fourth in the country for medical degrees or something like that and a lot of his old friends from school teach there now."

"That could be fun."

He laughed. "Maybe, Medical schools a big commitment. The classes alone take eight years and then you have to intern for a while before you get placed at a hospital."

"Quiet on deck!"

We fell silent as the house lights dimed and the crowd erupted into cheers as the shows them song started. I got in line with the other girls and we waited for our cue before racing out on stage. One by one our names were called over the loud speaker and we each did a small solo before giving the spot light up to the next dancer. As soon as Erik was out of the way Cat's voice rose above the audience and her spot light came on to another round of applause.

"These are the girls." She waved at us

"And here are your boys America." She waved at them.

"And I'm your host for the evening, Cat Deeley."

Cat walked between our two gropes as she walked forward and the rest of us slipped back stage making room for Angela and Erik to run ahead so they could get dressed for their first number. I snagged my gold dress and changed as fast as I could before sitting down and letting Jason play with my hair. Maria had made good on her vow earlier and my hair was done up in a lose bun with a gold ribbon that I could pull out.

"When the time comes, just pull on this string." Jason said showing me in the mirror. One end of the ribbon was longer then the other so I wouldn't get them confused.

He washed off my make-up from the first set and darkened my eyes adding black swirls near the corner of my eyes across my temples and light gold dust to my checks. Once I was done he moved to Edward, darkening his eyes and giving him the gold dust treatment to ascent the gold in our costumes.

I grabbed my shoes and switched chairs with Edward so I could see the small TV in our room that gave us a connection to the stage out front. Jake and Heidi were getting critiqued by the judges for their quick step and true to its reputation they had struggled with it. Nigel thought their technique was weak, but commented Jake on a recovery he'd made when Heidi had tripped. Over all, the judges weren't impressed and I hoped America would keep them out of the bottom because I didn't want to lose them. I didn't want to lose anyone really but, I knew I'd cry if Jake went home.

After the next commercial break Cat started announcing the dance that Rosalie and Ben would be doing. They were doing a pop jazz number by Wade Robson. The camera moved to a clip of Wade talking about his dance.

Wade smiled to the camera as he started talking and I could see Rose and Ben working with another man in the background. "This dance is the story of a girl who wakes up with a hangover to discover a ring on her finger and a boy she doesn't know in bed with her. Nether of them is sure what happened, the only thing they are sure of is that they are both in Vegas."

The clip moved to a shot of Rose and Ben laughing and joking about their pretend wild night of drinking an partying that led to the dance America was about to see and then Cat cued the music. The camera zoomed out so we could see the stage.

Rose and Ben were lying in the middle of the stage cuddling under a sheet. As the music started, with the sound of a casino slot game, Rose woke up. I was going to have to tease her about the look on her face as she spotted the man in bed with her.

"_You gotta help me out.  
__It's all a blur last night.  
__We need a taxi,  
_'_Cuz your hangover and I'm broke."_

Rose hit Ben as she rolled out of their make shift bed and balled the sheet up in her hands. Ben was shirtless in a pair of black dress pants and Rose was wearing nothing but his dark blue dress shirt and a pair of matching booty shorts. Ben woke with a start and rolled out of the way when Rose tossed the sheet at him.

"_I lost my fake ID,  
But you lost the motel key.  
Spare me your freaking dirty looks,  
Now don't blame me."_

Ben threw his hands up like he was yelling at her and Rose yelled right back, crossing the stage in two leaps and hitting him in the chest as the base picked up. Ben grabbed her hand as she moved to pull away from him and they struggled against each other a little as they worked their way back to center stage.

"_You wanna cash out,  
And get the hell outta town.  
Don't be a baby,  
Remember what you told me."_

The music swelled around them and as it grew they moved faster. Ben was trying to leave and Rose grabbed him every time he made an attempt to get away from her. As the chorus started Ben stopped trying to get away and they danced together as the lights flared from blue and green to bright yellow and red.

"Shut up and put your money where your mouth is.  
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas.  
Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now,  
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas."

The crowd cheered as Ben lifted Rose and when she hit the ground they moved into a set of synchronized hopping pirouettes. Edward joined me in front of the TV and we clapped as they continued the routine.

"We've got some competition this week." He said.

I nodded. "Their good."

"I'm kind of disappointed though." He said chuckling. "We've been in Vegas for three weeks and nothing this scandalous has happened yet."

I shoved him playfully and Jason told us not to mess up our make-up.

"You really want to wake up with a hangover and a wife?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "No, Esme would skin me alive but, it would make a good story. Not to mention the fact that I can't legally drink yet."

"Shh, watch the TV." I turned my attention back to the screen as Rose and Ben lifted Rose and she flipped over his shoulder. I'd been watching the dance while we talked and now Ben and Rosalie's characters were getting along enjoying the thrill and danger of Las Vegas. The dance showed a side to Ben I'd never seen before. The dance was fast with a lot of exact kicks and lifts, not something he would normally find on Broadway.

"_Shut up and put your money where your mouth is.  
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas.  
Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now,  
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas."_

They ended in a roar of clapping from the audience and a flash of bright lights as they both pulled wads of fake money from the folds of their costumes and threw it in the air letting it rain back down over them as they posed with big smiles on their faces. Cat came on stage making a joke about where they'd been stashing the money and pulled them in front of the judges.

Ben and Rose received all-around good comments from the judges and Nigel particularly pointed out the fact that he thought Rosalie was helping Ben grow as an overall dancer. Emmett and Leah were up next, but we only got to see the very beginning of their jazz number. Leah was back in the hula outfit and Emmett was playing the dumb Hawaiian tourist as they danced to Hawaiian rollercoaster ride.

"Edward Bella?"

A man dressed in crew black was standing at the door to our changing room with a clip board in his hands looking in at us.

"Yes?" I asked glancing up at the little red light that would cue us to get ready. It was off, we still had another pair of dancers and commercials to go before it would be time to get on stage.

"They want you on the stair rail so you can wave at the camera before you go on."

Jason gave us a quick glance over, fluffed a piece of my hair and brushed at Edward's cheek again before giving us his final seal of approval and we followed the crew man out into the dark hall. I caught my heel on a cord once but managed not to fall over. The crew man stopped just outside a small black door.

"Go out this door and straight up the stairs, it's blocked off from the audience but they might still try to wave at you or talk. Don't be mean but don't encourage the noise either we want them to be quiet while the judges talk. There's a guy waiting for you at the top and he'll get you in place."

We slipped out the heavy black door and it swung shut silently behind us. People at the ends of the rows glanced over and started whispering to their friends as we reached the stairwell. Edward put his hands on my waist as we climbed so I didn't fall.

Another man in black was waiting for us and he positioned us in front of the hanging camera we would be waving to.

"After the next pair dances cat will preview your dance when the light goes green smile and wave until it goes off. Then you can head back down and get on the stage."

He left us alone on the stage and Edward tapped me on the shoulder.

"My mom's waving at us."

I followed his finger as he pointed up to the front row of the balcony and I saw Esme waving at us. She smiled big when I waved back and held up a poster by her feet. I turned red. I wasn't sure where she'd gotten the shot but, the picture on the poster was of our Bollywood dance and it had our names on it in big black letters.

"That's embarrassing." Edward mumbled quietly. I nodded and watched as Esme tapped Carlisle on the shoulder and pointed over to us. He smiled and waved with her and then he turned to the people sitting with him and pointed up at us.

My jaw nearly hit the floor and the hand I had on Edward's arm clenched.

"That's my dad."

I blinked my eyes a couple of times and looked again. It was true. Sitting right in the front row with Carlisle and Esme was my dad Charlie and in the seat next to him was Billy Black.

"No wonder he wouldn't tell me who was coming with them." Edward said. "He probably wanted to surprise you."

Charlie and Billy waved up at us and I had to remember how to move my arms again before I waved back. The gold material of my dress sparkled momentarily in a beam of light and I felt my face flush darker as I remembered what I was wearing.

"Why did he have to come tonight?" I said, practically moaning, as I turned my back on the group of our parents. I leaned a hip against the rail and moved to put my face in my hands. Edward caught my wrist and stopped me.

"If you smudge that makeup Jason will kill you." He reminded me.

"Let him, I'm going to die of embarrassment anyway."

"Why's that?" H asked. "You're going to do just fine. We've got this dance down."

He was missing the point. "Edward, I've hardly spoken to my dad in four years and our dance is all about sex. This is going to be very uncomfortable and I'm positive he hasn't seen this much of my skin since the day I was born." I waved one hand at my _almost dress_ and flushed again.

Edward moved closer and put on hand on the railing on either side of me. "Bella." He said my name slowly and I flushed deeper. Not because of the dress or my father, I just loved the sound of my name when he said it.

I had to force myself to pay attention when he started speaking again and found it oddly hard to hear what he was saying when I had my eyes on his perfect pouty lips.

"Would you look at me please?" He said and I tore my eyes off his mouth to look him in the eye. He smiled. "Thank you. Charlie is your father, even if you have had some different opinions about your choice of career. He's going to be proud no matter what you do and-"

He hesitated.

"What?" I asked

The corner of his mouth turned up in that lop sided grin and his green eyes darkened. "You shouldn't be embarrassed of that dress. It looked amazing."

I smiled and felt myself relaxing. It was impossible to feel exposed when he looked at me like that. I wasn't going to worry about my father, the dress, or the audience. At least not until after the dance was over. Then I could panic.

"Thanks." I leaned forward an inch and had to catch myself before I kissed him. The other dancers might not be watching but we were standing up on the stairs in a room full of people and cameras. Not the most privet room in the house.

"I can't wait for our dance." I said instead.

He smiled. "Me either."

The people around us roared as Emmett and Leah finished their dance and faced the judges. Mary did some screaming and thought it was a fun piece. Our guest judge for the night was Sonya Tayeh and she liked it to. Nigel agreed it was a fun dance and spent time complementing the choreographer. Cat reminded America of the number to call if they wanted to keep Emmett and Leah in the competition and then there was a commercial break.

"Tanya and James are the only one's left right?" I asked wanting to make sure I'd remembered the order correctly.

Edward nodded. "They'll go after the break and then it's us. You nervous?"

I nodded. "I'm Always nervous right before we go on."

"Me to." He agreed.

The lights and the cameras started up again and then Cat was talking about Tanya and James upcoming dance.

"This week Tanya and James took on a contemporary piece by Mia Michaels but, before we get to the dance we took some time to talk with Tanya and James to see how they are getting along with each other as well as the other dancers. Let's take a look."

Every eye in the room turned to the big gumbo screen to watch the interviews. Before each dance they'd played clips of the dancers getting interviewed one on one. The screen flashed to a clip of James talking about how he and Tanya got along well. His mess of dirty blond hair was tied back in a pony tail and as the clip changed to the next question he was slowly shaking his head.

"No I don't have any enemies back stage. We're all competitors and we know that. To get to the top you've got to crush nineteen other people but we all get along just fine."

The clip flashed and then he was talking again.

"Some of my closest relationships." He paused to think. "I got along well with Laurent it was hard to see him go last week and I've got pretty good friendships going with Mike and Victoria. With Demetri gone I'm the oldest guy left on the show now."

The clip flashed again but this time it was Tanya who was talking. Her hair was pinned in a tight bun at the base of her neck and her eyes sparkled while she laughed. She was dripping in classic blond beauty and my self-esteem took a hit just looking at her.

"I'm here with two of my best friends. Emmett, Edward and I all made it threw the auditions together and I would love it if the three of us made it all the way to the end." She grinned. "Of course, if that happened I would have to crush them. Can't have the boys beating me, I'd never live it down."

The Tanya on the screen chuckled and so did members of the live audience. She was charming and the audience loved her playful banter. She was winning crowd points.

"Are there any dancers I don't get along with?" She said and I could see the flash of irritation in her eyes and grinned to myself. I was the only dancer Tanya didn't like, but bashing me on TV would lose her crowd points.

"I think the only dancers I don't get along with is little Bella."

My jaw dropped, oh no she didn't. She did?

"Bella and I just have different opinions when it comes to dancing and just about everything else." Tanya continued while I stared dumbfounded at the screen. "And honestly, I'm kind of worried that her lack of experience might drag Edward down. I would hate to see him lose his chance to win because of her."

The crowd chuckled again, not taking her seriously and my vision went red as Cat introduced their dance.

"Dancing to "Tequila Sunrise" its Tanya and James!"

The crowd cheered some more, the lights dimed, and the music started as Tanya and James opened their dance. I fumed silently, my hands clenched into fists so hard the bad knuckle on my hand throbbed. I would not get him kicked off. I felt Edward's hand on my shoulder as he turned me around to face him.

"Bella? Bella please look at me."

I didn't want to. I blinked back angry tears before they could mess up my makeup and adjusted my dress to give my hands something to do. I was going to take Tanya to the cleaners and make her eat her words.

"Bella?" Edward pressed again and I spun around to look at him.

"I'm sorry." He said as soon as I was facing him. "I didn't think she would-"

I cut him off. "Don't be sorry Edward."

He cut me off right back. "But it's my fault. I asked her to be nice to you and I think that made it worse. I don't think your dragging me down Bella. I've never danced as well with anyone before I ment you, not even when I dance with Tanya."

That made me smile even though I wanted to be mad. My comment was cut off as Tanya and James finished their dance and the live audience clapped. I stole another look over at where my dad was sitting and wondered if Jake knew his dad was here yet. I was lost in thought and Edward had to nudge me when the green light came on so we could wave to the camera as Cat announced we would be going after the break.

As soon as the light was off we scurried down the stairs, along the wall and up the side stairs. Cat had us wait off to the side with her until the commercials were over and then she announced our interviews.

"Bella and Edward have been dancing together since the callbacks but let's see how they get along with the other dancers."

They briefly showed the clip of me saying hi to Summer and Sam and then it was my interview. They showed my favorite and least favorite parts about working with Edward as we were getting into place. The crowd laughed as I made my crack about Edward's jaw but I forced myself to tune them and the screen out. The preshow butterflies had set in my stomach and I was working on taking deep even breaths as I stretched my arms one last time.

I glanced across the stage and Edward sent me a confident smile. If he was nervous he sure didn't show it. He always looked so confident when we were on stage. I tuned into the screen above us to get a feel for how much time we had. The interviews were over and Maria was talking about the concept of the dance.

I flexed my bad hand making sure the straps for my brace were covered by the gold ribbon I had wrapped around it so it wouldn't get caught on anything. I adjusted one of the sleeves on my dress and then Cat was announcing out song and I took my opening pose.

Hands on my hip, the slit of my dress purposely laid so my right leg was almost completely exposed. The lights dimed red and dark yellow and my dress glimmered in the low light as the synthesizer came in starting our music.

I swayed slowly to the opening letting myself fall into character. I was sitting in a smoky bar all alone and the hot stranger was about to walk in. The nerves I'd been feeling before fell away and I could almost taste the adrenalin start as it pumped threw my veins. As the first guitar cord hit I kicked my exposed leg up, spinning in a slow circle stopping to face Edward as he moved into place across from me. Seeing me for the first time.

I locked my eyes with his and started into my set timing my breaths along with the gentle rhythm of the guitar. We mirrored each other, walking towards the center of the stage. Eight counts and then another slow spin. We passed each other with touching, the spins perfectly lined up. Eight more counts walking away from him and then I glanced over my shoulder. He was still watching me. I walked back stage as he moved forward and when I took a step towards him I pulled the ribbon from my hair. The ribbon slid across my neck before it fell to the floor and then my hair was pilled around my shoulders, trailing down my exposed back.

Another eight counts and we were back at the middle. This time instead of letting me spin past him he caught me and we bent our knees together as he hoisted me into the air. I cleared his face and kicked my leg up. As I rolled back down into his arms the words started.

"_Watch the sunrise,  
Say your goodbyes,  
Off we go.  
Some conversation,  
No contemplation,  
Hit the road."_

We danced slow moving forward together as the music. I kept my eyes locked on him except for the short moments as one of us spun or we had to turn and I used those seconds to check my lines. Arms curved slowly, legs straight, neck held high. I kept my weight in my toes as I walked backwards and Edward let go of my hand as the second set of words came in. They were faster and I spun on my toes throwing my arms back around his neck.

"_Car overheats,  
Jump out of my seat,  
On the side of the highway, baby.  
Our road is long,  
Your hold is strong,  
Please don't ever let go, oh no."_

We moved across the stage in a set of slow twists never letting go of the others hands. Edward spun me to him wrapping one arm around my waist so my back was flush with his chest and I shivered as I felt his warm breath on the back of my neck. I let my head drop back, resting on his shoulder and kicked my legs while he was still holding me.

The next verse slowed down again as he followed me across the stage. He'd lead the last two sets and now it was my turn to lead the seduction. I kept my eyes locked on his trying to match the passion in our moved with the passion on my face.

"_I know I don't know you,  
But I want you so bad.  
Everyone has a secret.  
Oh, can they keep it?  
Oh no, they can't."_

We broke into a set of synchronized pirouettes and on the fourth spin dropped into a role. I pushed myself up with my knee and spun back into Edward's hold. He flipped me up, leading my legs over his shoulder and I locked my legs around his waist from behind. I let my fingers dig into the gold fabric of his shirt and stuck my face in his neck.

"_I'm driving fast now,  
Don't think I know how to go slow.  
Where you at now?  
I feel around,  
There you are."_

We were both breathing harder and I had to fight the adrenalin to keep my moves matched to the slow pace of the song. Edward pulled me around so we were almost nose to nose and I leaned to the side so my hair wouldn't block his face as he kissed my exposed shoulder. Edward's hands held my hips, anchoring me to him as I let myself roll backwards, my legs still locked around his waist as my dress hitched higher on my thighs exposing the tight gold shorts I was wearing underneath.

My hair pooled on the floor around me and then as the music picked up tempo again I pulled myself up faster ignoring as the mussels in my sides protesting the sharp move. The music around us swelled as the song hit its climax and some people in the audience cheered.

"_Cool these engines,  
Calm these jets.  
I ask you how hot can it get?  
And as you wipe off beads of sweat,  
Slowly you say, I'm not there yet."_

As soon as I was upright I locked my arms around Edward's neck and he dropped my legs. I backed up and he followed after me. We hit another pair of synced spins and then double stepped into a set of mirrored, one-handed front flips. I wobbled momentarily on my heels as my feet hit the ground and hoped that my recovery had kept anyone from seeing it. The music slowed for the last chorus and I spun to Edward's side for the final lift.

"I know I don't know you,  
But I want you so bad.  
Everyone has a secret,  
Oh, can they keep it?  
Oh no, they can't."

Edward lifted me up and I perched on his shoulder as he wrapped one arm across my thighs so I wouldn't fall. The last hit of the guitar rang around the room and then everyone exploded. The lights flared up so we could see all of the people watching us. Cat stepped on stage and Edward helped me slid off his shoulder. He pulled me into a hug and peeked me quick on the cheek.

I took his hand and we walked over to Cat's side, both breathing hard. My heart was pounding as I came down from my adrenalin high and I caught sight of Esme waving her poster again and laughed. We'd executed the dance perfectly and nothing could bother me right now. We made it to Cat's side and I hugged her too.

"That was so good you guys." She commented pulled Edward closer to and moving forward so we were right on the edge of the stage in front of the judges. Cat held onto my right arm, but I looped my left around Edward leaning on him as I tried to catch my breath.

"Nigel." Cat said turning her mic back to the judges. "Why don't we start with you?"

My heart jumped into my throat as I waited for him to talk.

"Hello Bella. Where did that come from?" He glanced over at where the choreographers were sitting. "Alex if all of your students are as talented as young Maria you need to bring them to the show more often. I thought it was a wonderful piece, you both danced it well, Bella you look absolutely stunning and I don't think we could have ended the night on a high note."

My arm around Edward tightened so I could pull him to me for a sort of half hug, since Cat still had my other arm and I was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. He'd liked it! Yippy.

Cat turned the attention of the crowd on Mary and I actually flinched when she started screaming. I didn't understand all of the word she said but I did clearly pick out the words "hot" "tamale" and "train". I wasn't sure what order they were in but they were all in the same sentence as my name and then she screamed again.

I got on the train!

I'd always thought the idea of Mary's hot tamale train was kind of stupid and had I not been buzzed on adrenalin I would probably still admit it was. But I was on the stupid idea! So I didn't care anymore. I'd torn my left arm away from Cat and locked them both around Edward as he spun me in a circle and we did a little happy dance.

My celebrating was to early though. It wasn't until Edward set me back down and Cat pulled us back over in front of the judges that I realized Mary was still talking. My train ticket was first class, but I was the only one getting one.

"Edward you did a wonderful job in this dance and I don't think anyone else could have danced it as well with Bella but she outshined you. My eyes were draw to her the entire time."

My adrenalin high came smashing down and I instantly felt guilty. Sonya agreed with everything the first two judges had said. She loved the passion between us and couldn't wait for her chance to work with some of the dancers on a dance she was doing for next weeks show, but she also agreed that I had taken the spot light.

I hadn't ment to. I couldn't remember having ever tried harder in any dance during my entire life. Everything had worked out so well, the moves, the emotion, the pure joy of dancing. I'd wanted to make Tanya eat her words but instead I'd done just what she said I would do. I was the reason that they hadn't liked Edward as much as they could have.

A part of my brain was trying to remind myself that this was a competition and he was fighting for the same prize I was, but another part. The part that still had her arms wrapped around him and could feel him playing with the silk of my dress at my lower back didn't know if it was worth it. I wasn't sure that when the time came I would be able to try and crush him.

Cat thanked the judges and gave America the number they had to call if they wanted to keep us in the competition. I smiled as best as I could and then the other dancers were coming back on stage so we could dance as the theme song played for the ending shot.

When the show was over Alice jumped me for a hug and said I had to sit next to her on the hot tamale train or she was going to come back to whatever car I was hiding in and kick me off. I agreed to sit next to her on the imaginary train.

People from the live audience were standing up and some of the dancers had jumped off the stage to talk to family. Edward took my hand and started pulled me forwards with him. I tried to tell him I was sorry, but then I caught sight of who was waiting for us at the edge of the stage and my new guilt was replaced with old fear. My dad.

I pulled my hand free of Edward's and told him I'd be right back. No way I was facing my dad alone. I spun around and weaved my way threw the other dancers until I found Jake trying to walk off stage.

"Jake wait up!"

He spun around and I pointed to were our dad's were waiting.

"Look who came to see us."

Jakes jaw hit the ground.

"What are they doing here?" He asked not taking his eyes off our dads as Billy waved us over to them.

"Edward's parents brought them, come on I'm not doing this alone."

Edward and Emmett were sitting on the end of the stage talking to their parents and Charlie had rolled Billy up with him. I squatted down so I could hop off the stage and Charlie grabbed my arm when I wobbled in my heels. I could twist and spin on stage just fine in heels thinner then the ones I was wearing right now but try to do something simple and gravity takes me. What was up with that?

I stood back up and smoothed out my dress whishing it was a little longer before I looked up at him. Charlie had dark hair that was just starting to go gray and the same dark brown eyes as me. He loved to fish, watch football and hang out at Billy's house. The last time I'd seen him four years ago I'd told him I didn't want to come back to Forks because I was going to spend my summers taking dance classes. He hadn't liked my choice, but he'd never forced me to go back to his house. Now he'd flown thousands of miles to see me in a dance competition and I wasn't sure what to say. I started with,

"Hi dad."

* * *

~Darkrose

Songs mentioned in chapter. Must give credit where credit it due. I like to write but I couldn't write songs to save my life.

1. "_Waking up in Vegas_" By: Katy Perry

2. "_Hawaiian rollercoaster ride_" By: Jump5

3. "_Tequila Sunrise_" By: The Eagles

4. "_Secret_" By: Maroon 5

I hope you all liked it, please let me know what you think.  
How did Ryan stay over Legacy last night? I think his wife got him sympathy votes, I'm sorry she got hurt but Molly was better. Ok my little rants over. I didn't agree with either vote last night but my favorites are still in.


	35. Charlie

I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write this next week so I'd like to say Merry Christmas to everyone right now. If you don't celebrate Christmas please note that I'm note trying to be rude I'm just sick of people saying that I'm not allowed to say "Marry Christmas". I'd also like to post another shout out to all of my wonderful reviewers. Over 500!  
Chapter 35- Charlie

* * *

Pov-Bella

Charlie walked around Billy's wheelchair and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I hugged him awkwardly not sure what to say. Charlie wasn't big on public displays of affection, of any kind. He was a quiet, simple man who enjoyed his small town and his small job and his small fishing boat.

"I'm so proud of you Bells." He said his arms tightening around me.

I felt myself choke up on the unexpected words. I couldn't remember the last time Charlie had openly said he was proud of me. I'd never been the sort of kid to seek out praise from my parents. I was the quiet good girl, getting good grades, staying out of trouble, and always home a half hour before my curfew. I hadn't realized how much I wanted to hear him say that.

I locked my arms tighter around his neck and blinked back tears that came out of nowhere. "Thanks dad. It's really good to see you again." I'd missed him more then I thought I had.

He pulled back slowly, holding me at arms length so he could look me over. I flushed as he took in the low cut, backless gold dress with its mile high slit.

He surprised me again. "You look beautiful Bella." He said letting me go.

My face was still burning as I pulled at the dress trying to make it look longer then it was. "Our choreographers pick out the outfits." I said shrugging.

A strong arm looped around my waist and Jake pulled me to his side. "Don't be modest Bells you look damn hot in that dress. I didn't think you could pull it off but, gold is definitely your color." He wolf whistled and I swatted at him playfully. This was starting to feel just like it had before, when Jake and I use to hang out around Forks all summer.

"Don't I get a hug?" Billy asked spinning his wheelchair so he was facing me and holding his arms out and giving me the guilt look because I hadn't hugged him yet.

"Of course you do." I twisted out of Jakes hold so I could give his dad a big hug and thank him for coming to see the show.

Billy Black was somewhere between the age of sixty and infinity. He held himself with an air of someone who had authority but managed to do it without flaunting the power. Billy's dad, Jakes grandpa, had been the last real chief of the La Push Indian tribe and, as his son people on the reservation still looked up to him for advice and wisdom. He had long, black, weather damaged hair without a touch of gray that he kept tied in a ponytail like his son and his eyes were such a dark brown they looked nearly black.

"You're looking good." I said as I backed up and stood closer to Charlie.

Billy shrugged his thick set shoulders and grinned, his white teeth flashing against his darker toned skin. "I'm still dancing."

"How have you been Bella?" Charlie asked.

"Really good, the shows amazing I still can't believe I'm even here."

"You were really good up there." He said taking my arm so we could walk along the stage and talk a little more privately. "You've come along way since that frilly pink tutu."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom still has it in the hall closet." I hesitated and snuck a quick glance up at him. "You remember that?"

He squeezed my hand and we sat down in two vacant seats in front of the stage. "I was at the recital when you threw up." He looked over at me and smiled softly, the skin near his eyes crinkled and it was clear that age and the sun were starting to catch up with him.

"Bella" He said softly. "I know I haven't always been the most supportive of this dancing stuff but, you have to know that I am so proud of you."

I nodded. "I know that."

"I didn't think dancing was something you could turn into a career and I still don't think it's the best idea. I mean, a dancer only has so much shelf life before your body simply won't be able to move like that anymore."

I nodded slowly. I knew that dancing wasn't a life time career. Charlie just didn't understand all of the different parts that dancing involved. Once I could no longer keep up on stage I could be a choreographer or I could teach others how to dance. I wasn't going to take the time to try and explain that now because I didn't want to start arguing with him. This was an old argument and if he was willing to never have it again, so was I.

"You look so grown up Bella." Charlie said looking over my dress again. "I feel like I've missed a whole life time in the last four years. Your hairs longer too."

I smiled and shook my head slowly feeling the soft smile tug up the corner of my lips. Charlie never had been very observant. "I cut it since the last time you saw me dad."

"How's your mom doing?" He said jumping topics.

"She's fine."

He nodded. "She and a couple of your friends are going to try to make it up for the next show. I think she might be bringing Phil along too."

"You've been talking to mom?" That was different. What if I didn't make it to next week?

He nodded and sort of shrugged his shoulders. "After the call from the show doctor when you got hurt she told me what you were doing so I could watch the show to. I didn't even know Billy had let Jake try out so now we watch the show together every week. I think the entire town of Forks is watching it now actually."

I wanted to role my eyes again but, thought better of it after a moment. Forks had, at most, three thousand people in it and gossip spread like wildfire in dry wood. I should have guessed that once word got out that the chief's flighty defiant daughter was on TV they would all start watching me. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the show, I should have called."

He shrugged it off. "Just as much my fault. I haven't done a very good job at keeping in touch with you Bella."

"I didn't want to keep in touch. But I'm really glad you came here tonight dad. How did you even get here? The tickets must have coast a fortune."

He pointed over his shoulder, back the way we'd come. "Carlisle and Esme wouldn't take no for an answer. Billy was worried about the chair and I didn't really have the money to fly down here but, they insisted we come with them. Were staying overnight down the street at some fancy hotel too so we can come back tomorrow night. They're really good people. I've had a chance to work with Dr. Cullen a few times during some of the bad car accidents but, that's not really the right environment to get to know someone and his wife's really something too."

I nodded. "Yeah they're both really nice. Esme's adorable."

"Who was the blond girl at the end? She said you two weren't getting along." He asked and I felt my eyes narrow. Tanya's comments had been blunt and uncalled for. Just because we were fighting didn't mean she needed to air it all over the country.

"Bella?" Charlie asked again when I said nothing.

I tried to make my face more pleasant and less like I wanted to strangle someone (With strawberry blond curls) but it was hard to push down the bubble of anger. I'd never hated anyone before. There were people I preferred not to hang out with and people I didn't trust, but no one that I truly hated. I was pretty sure I hated Tanya and I felt bad for admitting it. I didn't want it to come down to Edward having to side with one of us but, it didn't look like Tanya was willing to share him. I didn't particularly want to share with her either.

"We just don't get along dad it's nothing to big." I said smoothly, amazed that my voice stayed even while I talked. "The show probably just cut it like that so it would look like there was more drama back stage then there really is." I added as an after though. TV was known for cutting things to look worse then it was so that was completely believable.

"I thought you and Edward seemed to be getting along well." He pointed out glancing back at were Edward and Emmett were sitting with their parents on the edge of the stage.

I felt the pink creep into my checks and hoped Charlie wouldn't notice. "We've been partners for awhile now. You get to know your dance partner pretty well in practice. Once you're on stage there's no such thing as a personal bubble."

He nodded and raised an eye brown in my direction. "So I noticed that dance was kind of racy are they even aloud to show that on TV."

I nodded and turned my head away from him a little as the blush darkened my cheeks. "They do dances like that a lot on this show and it was a big crowd pleaser so hopefully we'll draw in a lot of votes tonight."

"That reminds me." Charlie fished in his jean pocket and pulled out a thick black cell phone. I was amazed he even had a cell phone.

He flipped it open and dialed a string of numbers faster then I could follow along.

"Who are you calling?" I asked.

He put the phone to his ear and waited a moment while the other line rang. After another moment he smiled to himself and flipped the phone shut sticking it back in his pocket.

"I was voting for you."

I smiled. "Yeah! Now I know we'll get at least one."

"You'll get more then that. Your mom said your friend Summer's got the show number on speed dial and she spends the entire two hours calling in for you after every show. She's rounding up people from your school and your dance classes to vote too."

"Really?" It had been a couple of day's since I checked in with Summer but, she'd never mentioned that she was working so hard for me. I should have assumed she would do that, she was a great friend. And knowing her she was getting Sam to vote too, although he was probably voting for Erik. "I didn't know she was working so hard."

"You deserve it."

I glanced up and found Edward smiling down at me. Emmett, Esme and Carlisle were walking over towards us too and Jake was wheeling Billy in our general direction. I did formal introductions once everyone was gathered around.

"Dad this is my dance partner Edward Cullen and the big one's his brother Emmett. Guys this is my dad Charlie."

Edward shook Charlie's hand politely and Emmett pulled him into a big hug. "It's good to see yah chief."

"Hello Emmett." Charlie said with a smile. "Keeping out of trouble I hope."

He nodded with a sheepish grin. "Yes Sr."

I would have to ask him about that later.

"Hey why didn't I get invited to the party? I want to meet Bella's dad too." Alice asked skipping over to us and hopping off the end of the stage with perfect grace in her high heels. Rose and Jasper were trailing along behind her, everyone still in costume, and once they were all seated on the end of the stage or in a seat near by I introduced them too.

"Dad, Billy these are some of our friends: Alice Brandon, and Rosalie, and Jasper Hale. Guys this is my dad Charlie and Jake's dad Billy." They'd met Carlisle and Esme the same time I did week one so I didn't need to reintroduce them.

"You all did a great job tonight. You should be very proud." Esme said giving everyone a warm hug. I had to bit my lip when she caught Jasper off guard and hugged him too keep myself from laughing. He looked pleasantly surprised and hugged her back.

"Dancers, we need to get everything packed up and back to the studio."

All of our heads shot up and turned in the direction of the stage were a man dressed in crew black was gathering the dancers up.

"I guess that's our cue hu?" Emmett said pulling his mom into another hug, lifting her off her feet and spinning her in a circle.

"Looks like it." Jasper said hopping back up onto the stage and offering Rose a hand so he could pull her up.

Rose waved good bye as she followed her brother off across the stage. "It was nice to meet all of you."

"I guess we got to go. It was nice meeting you Charlie, Billy." Alice waved once before skipping up the steps to center stage and dancing across the stage behind the curtains after them.

"I guess you've got to go too." Charlie said holding his arms out to me.

"Yeah, thanks again for coming to the show." I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him for a moment.

"No problem honey. We'll see you tomorrow night ok kido. Good luck."

"Bye dad."

Emmett held his hand down to me and hoisted me up onto the stage with one hand.

"You know steroids are bad for you right?" I joked as we walked to the door that lead back stage.

He laughed and messed up my hair, which I swatted at him for.

"It's not my fault you're so tinny." He said with a smirk, which won him another swat. He flexed his mussels and dodged one of my hits with a smart ass smirk. "Besides Bella, these bad boys are all real." He flexed and his arms rippeled impressivly. Emmett was built like a spanish bull and just as sneakily cunning as one right before it charged you.

He was distracted by showing off his arms and a slapped him in the back of the head.

"Hey, stop that." He caught my hand before I could hit him again and pouted at me trying to look like I'd really hurt him. "Edward your girlfriends hitting me." He whined turning his pout on Edward while I tried to pull myself free of his strong hold. It was useless, I wasn't going anywhere.

Edward just smiled at us and laughed.

"Let go of my hand." I said wiggling against his grasp trying to get free.

He let go just as I pulled again and I wound up ungracefully on my butt.

"Emmett you jerk."

He laughed. "You said to let go."

Edward was chuckling quietly as he helped me up. I hit Emmett again.

"I didn't think you'd actually listen to me." I turned around and swatted at Edward too. "And you had better stop laughing at me."

Edward's laughter turned into coughs as he tried to cover them up but he and Emmett were both still grinning at me stupidly. I huffed and snagged my clothes off my chair before retreating to the changing room.

"Jerks." I mumbled to myself as I striped out of the gold dress and back into a pair of black warm up pants and a sweater. I slipped my bare feet into flats and tied my hair up in a pony so it was out of my face.

Jason pouted at me when he saw how I was treating the soft curls he carefully put in my hair and I ignored him while I packed up my costumes. The blue solo dress I hadn't needed to use yet along with it's under clothes. The gold dress that I found myself oddly attached to and the ribbon for my hair.

My mind wondered as I locked up my box and followed the others out to the bus. A few people who must have seen tonight's show were still standing outside and I ducked my head from their stairs. So much had happened tonight and I was trying to take it all in at once.

Charlie had come to the show and thought I did a good job. He was proud of me. Mom and Summer were going to come down next week, assuming I made it through the next round. Butterflies erupted in my stomach before I could stop the nerves and it fought against the last of my adrenalin rush. In just under twenty-four hours two more dancers would go home and we would have to start the process of learning our dances all over again.

Max's team of costume making energizer bunnies was waiting to take our boxes away when we got to the studio and empty them for next week. I declined an invite from Jake to come watch a movie with some of the other dancers in his room and climbed on autopilot up the stairs to my own bedroom.

I caught Tanya's eye in the hall as she opened the door to her room and we exchanged no words as we glared at each other. We didn't need to speak. I'd thrown the gauntlet down very evidently when I'd refused to agree to stay away from Edward and my blatant claim on him at the club had been like rubbing salt in an open wound.

She had retaliated by publicly trying to slander me, probably in hopes that I would simply get kicked off in the next round because no one would vote for me. I wasn't going to go down simply and she new it. I also knew she wouldn't let up now that this fight between us ad started. I had a feeling this was just as much about her pride now as it was about Edward. One of us was going to get hurt.

The door to the girl's floor opened and we broke eye contact as Rosalie and Leah walked into the hallway. They were laughing about something and talking about the show and I ducked into my room before they could try and talk to me or I could catch Tanya's eye again.

I striped in the backroom and left my cloths on the floor, not in the mood to pick them up, and stood under the hot jet of water until it turned cold letting it wash away the aches in my mussels and the sweat from working all day.

I let my wet hair hang around my shoulders when I slipped into my pajamas and sat hard on my bed grabbing for my phone. I had a few missed calls from people who'd called during the show. The first one was from the very woman who'd taught me how to samba and owned the dance school I worked at, Erika Maxwell.

Erika was a hundred and thirty pounds of lean, hard, dancer mussel. She had long legs with ripped thighs. Lots of curly red brown hair that hung in her amber eyes and to top it all off she was sharp as a tack. She was only twenty-eight but she'd been running Samba sun for five years when she took it over for her aunt Mabel. The only thing she liked to do more then dance was teach others how to dance and her soul had been born to dance the Samba.

I selected her call and put the phone to my ear as I listened.

-"_Bella!_" She called into the mouth piece and I could hear people talking in the back ground. "_We caught the show Hot Stuff that was fantastic. I want that boy working at Samba Sun, you need to give me his number. Anyone who could get you to move like that has a gift and he needs to share it."_ I could hear her complain and another voice asked for the phone and then a male voice was speaking. _"Bella you little fox, if you'd done that at our last samba show we would have won! We're all rooting for you and voting to so, Hay what gives!"_ There was some more fighting and then Erika's voice was back and she sounded slightly out of breath. _"Sorry Bella, Parker and the some of the others are over at my house watching the show with me and the punk took my phone away." "I'm not a punk" _Parker shouted from the background and a chorus of other voice all started talking at the same time. I clutched the phone to my ear and laughed as she wished me luck and said they would call after the next show before hanging up the phone.

Mathew Parker was a dancer from Samba sun and we usually paired together when the school got accepted into competitions. We'd won a few trophies and they were in the lobby display case to give the school more credit. He had dark brown hair and soft blue eyes and when he smiled you could see that he only had one dimple. He was a year older then I was and the schools best student.

I rolled my eyes and moved to the next message. A short one from Renee and Phil. They'd caught the show and loved the dance and my mom made a few embarrassing comments about where the other half of my dress had been. I moved onto the next one before it was finished.

-"_Bella! Who's the bitch with the blond hair? I'll kill her for you. No one will ever suspect me. I'm cute and they won't find the body if we drive her into the dessert and let the coyotes eat her."_ I smiled to myself, it was my best girl Summer. "_She made you look bad and the audience was totally buying her bull shit! I can't believe the show played that, it should be against the rules._" I could hear someone else talking in the background but, Summer was ranting and I couldn't hear what they were saying. _"If I ever get my hands on her she's toast. And not the floppy kind of half bread/toast my brother likes to put butter on. I mean burnt black and crispy toast…No, get los-"_ I could head a struggle on the other end of the line and then a deep male voice started speaking. It'd been weeks since I'd talked to Sam directly but, I'd recognize his calm voice anywhere. He was the voice of reason behind Summer's angry shouting. _"Bella you need to watch that Tanya she's gunning for you and she's going to fight dirty. I'm not sure what you did or how your fight started but make her burry the hatchet before she stabs you with it."_ He paused and I heard Summer mouthing off in the background. _"Give me that phone back Sam!"_ More struggling and it sounded like whoever was holding the phone fell down_. "I'll keep Summer under control_." Sam promised quickly. "_But fix things with Tanya."_ The phone disconnected with more muffled cussing from Summer and I giggled into my pillow.

What if I didn't want to fix things with Tanya? Maybe I felt like being stubborn.

I sent Summer a text letting her know that I wasn't going to take any of Tanya's crap and brushed out my hair when it started to frizz into curly knots. By the time I slid under the covers my mussels were starting to protest again and I was so tired I was starting to fall over. It was almost midnight so I was betting that Edward had been bared from coming down for the night so I closed my eyes and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

~Darkrose

Guess what!

I got nominated for an award in the thread I hang out on. I need a few more votes to make it to the next round so if everyone who likes my story would go vote it would mean a lot to me. I'll put the link below (Someone tell me if it doesn't work) but it should. I got nominated in two categories the best "Edward/Bella story" and "best Comedy". Please go vote for this story, I'll beg. I won't grovel but I'll beg. Please! Pretty please.

http:/forum(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/topic/66481/20624122/1/


	36. Another two bite the dust

I wrote this chapter listening to the Veronicas even though I didn't actually use any of their music. Hope everyone's having a great day. Now onto the dancing.

Chapter 36- Another two bite the dust

* * *

Pov-Bella

Here we were again. I stepped forward on the stage as the lights around us swelled and the audience screamed. If you've never stepped out in front of hundreds of people screaming for you, you wouldn't understand. It's not a feeling I can describe in words. Only in shear panic and the funny way your heart speeds up and yet, at the same time it feels like it skips a few beats.

Adrenalin pulsed through my veins so hard I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears. My palms were sweating as Cat talked to America and I clutched Edward's hand at my side. My stomach flipped uneasily and I tapped my foot softly against the stage below me, unable to stand completely still.

It was absolutly amazing and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else in the world.

Thursday night, and we were about to find out which three couples would fall into the bottom and have to dance for their lives. Edward adjusted his hand so our fingers were interwoven and I knew if I looked down my knuckles would be white. He didn't complain and I couldn't figure out how to loosen my grip on him.

I'd spotted Charlie sitting with Billy, Carlisle, and Esme during the opener when we each got to do solo's. They'd moved to the very front row and now Charlie was holding the sign Esme had made for me and Edward.

Alice and Mike were standing to our left. Alice had her hands folded behind her back and Mike was tapping his foot the same as me. To our right Angela and Erik held hands both looking as nervous as I felt and next to them was Rosalie and Ben. I caught Angela's eye and she smiled tentatively at me.

Cat had her mic to her mouth and was looking at her note cards as she addressed them. She showed a clip of their dance yesterday and I was impressed at the control of the slow flip. Erik had grown so much since the start of this season. If there had been an underdog it was him and he was showing us all that he could rise to a challenge.

America saw it to and Cat dismissed them with a gentle smile. Erik pulled Angela into a hug and gave the rest of us a thumbs up before they both shot off the stage as if they were afraid Cat would call them back and say _April fools you're really in the bottom_.

I was oddly envious.

Rose and Ben went next and it felt like only seconds had passed before she asked them to get off the stage too, they were also safe for the night and would get a chance to dance next week. Fourteen spots were open for next week and four of them had already been filled.

Alice shot me a sad look and I knew it was mirrored on my face almost exactly. Sixteen dancers, meant there were only eight pairs. We were coming on the stage in groups of four pairs to stand with Cat and hear the results of last night's voting. There was no way the show would put all three bottom pairs in the second set which meant one of us was going to fall into the bottom right now. One or both.

It was going to be me and I knew it. I had thought our dance yesterday would keep us safe from elimination but, no way I could match Alice as a crowd pleaser and it was the crowd who voted to keep their favorites safe. The judges all loved Alice and she was Mary's favorite. I couldn't remember if any of the other dancer had ever gotten on Mary's train week one but Alice had.

I listened carefully as Cat talked and showed clips of both our dances yesterday. The clip for us was one of the synchronized pirouettes into the drop role. I smiled to myself as the clip move to Alice and Mikes dance, the pirouettes had been perfectly timed and looked awesome. I glanced up at Edward and my smile faltered when I saw the grimace on his face. He glanced at Alice and Mike and then looked down at me. He'd done the math too and knew we were going to fall.

My solo was ready. Every week I got to work on it, it changed a little bit but I was confident it would pass the judges expectations. My Latin background wasn't the best for solo work. Ballroom couldn't really be _Ballroom_ unless there were two people on stage but, the hip-hop influence I used in my dancing gave me a wider range of movements and made the Ballroom parts of my solo not look as awkward.

"Bella, Edward you are safe."

I was so focused on how I was going to handle having to do my solo that it took a moment for Cat's words to sink in. She was talking to me and Edward, she had just said our names. We were safe? We'd gotten more votes then Alice and Mike? That meant Alice had fallen into the bottom. I glanced over at my friend and saw the shock on her face. She glanced at me and smiled softly as I pulled her into a quick hug. She squeezed me lightly but I saw the flash of irritation on her face and understood it immediately.

We were friends, I loved Alice and I hoped we could friends for a long time even after the show was over. But we were also competitors going for the same prize. If I wanted to win, eventually Alice had to go home and Alice was good. She was going to be hard to beat and her going home now would give me a better chance later in the competition. I felt guilty for thinking it almost immediately, but another part of me was reminding me that it was still true. They all had to go home eventually. I knew it, Alice knew it. It was something all of the dancers had to except… It still sucked having to watch your friends leave.

"Good luck Alice." I whispered quickly as Edward took my arm. Cat was waving for us to get off the stage while she explained to America how the process of the solos would work. Mike and Alice went backstage during the commercial break and I took some time to congratulate the others.

Rosalie and Ben both gave me a hug and then Erik grabbed me around the middle and spun me in a circle cheering.

"Top fourteen Bella, We're in! We made it, can you belive this?"

"Not at all."

I smiled and hopped around with him for a few seconds before grabbing Angela into a big hug. Angela was another dancer who kept surprising me. When I'd first meet her she'd been a little Broadway dancer with next to no experience in other styles. She still struggled and Erik was able to help her grow and she pushed him to be better in return.

"Congratulations Angela."

She hugged me back and I noticed that she was crying. "You too Bella, I was so worried about this week. I was sure we would fall into the bottom. I'm so happy we get to go to next week."

"What are you talking about?" Erik asked poping over to our sides. "We killed that dance last night. There was no way America was sending us home after that rutien."

She nodded slowly and all of our heads turned back to the stage as the next four groups were lead out to face the music. Leah and Emmett stood right next to Cat and the others lined up next to them all looking like they couldn't decide weather to be sick or start happy dancing.

When the cameras turned back on Cat got her cue and started with Heidi and Jake. She showed a short clip of their quickstep and my face fell as they were sent into the bottom three. Now not only did I have to worry about Alice I had to hope Jake would be ok too.

Cat turned to talk with Tanya and James and I had the odd urge to growl as they passed into the next round. I didn't have anything against James, I didn't know him to well. He'd auditioned in Washington and liked heaver style contemporary dancing. He could play guitar and there was almost always rock and role music coming from his room. He was also, unluckily, partnered with the world's biggest witch.

Tanya and James hurried down the front steps to join the rest of us standing in front of the judges and Cat turned to talk to Victoria and Jasper. Victoria and Jasper had done a disco routine and I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the clip they showed. Jasper had thrown Victoria into a very impressive lift but it wasn't the moves that caught my attention. Whoever their choreographer had been had talked Jasper into a pair of white, sparkly, flair pants and the matching white, sequence top, sparkled almost as much as the disco ball. Jasper was a good looking guy with waved of blond hair and hard blue eyes but he couldn't pull off the retro disco look. ha ha ha

The clip of Emmett and Leah's dance showed them both shaking their hips to a drum as Hawaiian roller coaster ride played in the background and the lights flashed bright island colors. Emmett pulled off a very impressive spilt kick and the low-cut grass skirt on Leah showed off her great hips. There were both great dancers and the faster speeds made both of the dances crowd pleasers.

"I'll bet Emmett and Leah fall." Erik said. "The disco had some really great lifts in it."

He was talking to Rosalie and I caught her shake her head. "Emmett and Leah are audience favorites so far. They almost always pull in the biggest number. The disco was flashy but the Hawaiian once was fun."

I moved to her side and took her hand in my own as we watched Cat turn back to face the two groups. Emmett and Leah or Jasper and Victoria? America had voted and only Cat knew the answer. She kept talking, trying to raise the tension in the room. It was working, suspense hung thick in the air around the dancers who were already safe and I could almost taste the stress on stage.

"Emmett and Leah, you are safe."

I heard Esme whoop from her seat and then the rest of the room was cheering as Emmett and Leah hurried down the stairs to stand with the rest of us. Rose's fingers locked on my hand in a grip that turned her knuckles white.

"He'll be ok." I said softly trying to bring her some form of comfort as her brother walked backstage. I'd seen Jasper work on his solos, he was stronger in partner work but, he had a strong technical foundation and the mussel for solo flips. He could pull it off.

She nodded once and her grip on my hand relaxed marginally as we took our turn congratulating Emmett and Leah. Cat announced that after the break, The Veronicas would be guest appearing to sing their song "I can't stay away". I cocked an eye brown and looked at the others.

"Did you know we were having guest singers?"

Everyone kind of shook their heads or shrugged and Angela clapped her hands.

"I love these girls, there music is fantastic."

"I've never heard of them." James said and we watched as a drum set was rolled on stage along with crew men in black who were setting up microphones. Rose only let go of my hand when she gave Emmett a hug and congratulated him on making it to the next round. Once Emmett put her down she retreated to the back of our group and leaned against the booth where the judges were sitting.

I was momentarily deaf as the live audience roared to life when the Veronicas came on stage but they quieted down as soon as the music started. The roar of people replaced by the shrill cords of an electric guitar and the thump of a base drum.

Erik started dancing in the open space in front of where the safe dancers were standing and he was soon joined by others. Rose never looked up, she had her arm's crossed over her chest and had taken a sudden interest in her shoes. I wasn't sure if anything I could say would make her feel better right now, but I had to try something.

I moved to go talk to Rose when I got a very _Alice's like_ idea. Emmett was standing just a few feet away from me turned towards the stage but when I glanced over at him I caught him sneak a glance back at Rose. So, I wasn't the only one who'd noticed her distress. I changed course and instead of stopping next to Rose I tapped Emmett on the shoulder. He jumped, not having seen my approach and smile down at me.

He couldn't fool me. His arms were crossed over his chest like Rose's and his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" I suggested, doing my best to keep the smirk off my face when his eyes got big.

"Who?" He asked, playing stupid.

I put my hands on my hips and stared at him. He knew very well who I was referring to. Emmett hesitated and glanced over my shoulder where I knew Rose would still be standing, fighting with the knowledge that her brother might be going home tonight.

"I don't think she wants to talk to anyone." He said, not bothering to hide the fact that he had been watching her anymore.

"I think you might be right about that." I agreed. "But I think she _needs_ to talk to someone and I think that someone should be you."

"Why?" He asked returning his gaze to me. Emmett was a big guy, probably close to 6'1 or 6'2 and with how close we were squished together I had to lean my head back to look up him in the eye. He wasn't trying to smile anymore and I'd never seen him look any less than exuberant, innless he was hungry, and the expression broke my heart.

"Because I said so."

I grabbed his arm and pushed him in Rose's direction before he could argue with me. Had he wanted to I'm sure he could have held me back but, he let me push him forward so I knew he wanted to talk to her too. I watched until he broke past the people nearest Rose and stopped at her side before returning my attention to the others. I didn't want to pry.

"What was that about?" Edward asked as quietly as he could with me still being able to hear him over the act on stage. When I looked up at him he nodded in Emmett and Rosalie's direction. I shrugged and returned my attention to the stage.

"Rosalie is worried about Jasper. She needed someone to talk to."

"And you chose my brother to empathies with her?" He asked still looking at me, though I didn't return my gaze on him.

"Yes."

He didn't say anything for a moment and I risked taking a peek up at him. He had returned his attention to the stage but his eyes weren't focusing on the Veronicas. He glanced down and caught my eye.

"He likes her you know."

It was a rhetorical question but I nodded anyway.

"Yes."

"That's why you told him to go talk to her?"

I nodded, Rose liked Emmett too she just wouldn't' admit it out loud yet. I'd seen her watch him in the lounge. She laughed more when he was around and next to Alice and me he was one of the few people I'd seen her actually sit down and talk with.

"Yep."

He smiled. "You're almost as sneaky as Alice, you did that on purpose."

I smirked and turned my attention back to the stage. The Veronicas had finished their song and I clapped with the others as they bowed and Cat went into a commercial. After the break it was time for the solo's to start and I watched silently with the others as first Mike and then Jake did their solos. I cheered as loud as I could when Jake bowed at the end of his dance and paced along the dancers spot during the commercial break.

"Bella calm down."Edward pleaded with me as I passed by him for a fifth time.

"What if Jake goes home this week?" I asked him. "Or Jasper, it would mess Rosalie up if Jasper went home."

"Alice is up for elimination too." He reminded me and my stomach flopped uneasily. Chances were good we would lose a friend tonight.

I clapped with the audience as the lights flared and Cat introduced Victoria for her solo. Victoria was dancing to a song with no words. It was a light flute piece with electric violins and a base drum and it sort of reminded me of something Transiberian Orchestra would do. I liked it and the judges clapped when she was done.

Alice was up next and she charmed the audience easily with a fast passed jazz number. She was small and energetic and after a neat looking back flip she had them eating out of her hands. Heidi's solo was slower then she usually danced and she missed the ending forcing her to stop awkwardly halfway through a move.

The last dancer to do his solo was Jasper. He'd changed since the opening segment coming on stage wearing a pair of loose black dress pants and a gray button up shirt. His shirt was buttoned to hide the scar across his chest and his shaggy blond hair hung in his face as he took an opening pose.

"_The secret side of me, I never let you see.  
__I keep it caged but, I can't control it.  
__So stay away from me, the beast is ugly.  
__I feel the rage and I just can't hold it."_

As the song started Jasper kept his movements slow, rising and falling with the speed and intensity of the base guitar and I smiled at his music of choice. I knew the song well and I was a fan of the band. "Monster" by: Skillet.

"He loves this song."

I jumped at the unexpected voice and tore my eyes off the stage to look at my side. Rose had moved forward so she could watch Jasper and I was glad to see Emmett was still with her. Rose took my hand and smiled at me before returning her attention to the stage.

"_It's scratching on the walls, in the closet in the halls.  
__It comes awake and I can't control it.  
__Hiding under the bed. In my body, in my head.  
__Why won't somebody come and save me from this make it end?"_

Jasper made little connection with the audience as he danced, his moves turned inward and harsh. I knew Jaspers dancing background was contemporary but I hadn't known how good he was. He's dance drew you in and you could almost feel the internal struggle the lyrics described.

"_I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin.  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster.  
__I hate what I've become, the nightmares just begun,  
__I must confess that I feel like a monster."_

I knew that some of the emotions coming off the stage were fake. Dancers truly were the worlds best actors, since every song had a different emotion. Every time you learned a new dance you needed to learn a new character, you needed to become someone other then who you were and convince all of the people watching you that it was easy, but I also had a feeling that this really was how Jasper felt. Conflicted.

"_My secret side I keep, hid under lock and key.  
__I keep it caged but I can't control it.  
_'_Cause if I let him out, he'll tear me up, bring me down."  
__Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?"_

Jasper moved back and forth across the stage utilizing all of its open space and showing off his technical abilities to the fullest. He pulled off two impressive back flips one after another and showed of his balance with a set of hopping Pirouettes.

"_It's hiding in the dark, its teeth are razor sharp.  
__There's no escape for me, it wants my soul, it wants my heart.  
__No one can hear my scream, maybe it's just a dream  
__Maybe it's inside of me, stop this monster."_

_"I must confess that I feel like a monster."_

As the song came to an end Jasper moved over to Cat's side and let her hook an arm around his waist as she talked to the audience. After the break the judges would announce which boy and which girl would be going home.

I squeezed Rose's hand as the other soloist came out and stood with Jasper and Cat center stage. "He did so good Rose."

She nodded slowly a small smile on her face. "It's not over yet."

"I bet it's Jake." Emmett commented joining our conversation.

I paled; I thought Jake did a great job. Jasper had easily been one of my favorites tonight, I thought he'd blown Mike out of the water. "Why?"

Emmett shrugged. "He's better then Mike in the solos but his partner dance last night was a big flop. I think the judges forgive bad solos easier then they do bad partner dances."

"But they know the quick step's too hard to master in a week." I argued.

He shrugged. "Couples have done it before and come out great. I think their standers for it are high then they ever have been before."

"Were about to find out." Rose said nodding at the stage.

I looked up in time to see the lights flair and Cat smile as she got her cue to talk. Alice and the other girls had moved off to the side and Cat was standing center stage with the three bottom boy's. Jake looked like he was ready to pass out, Mike looked like he was trying to find the best place to get sick on stage and Jasper's face was a blank mask hiding all emotion.

"Welcome back America." Cat said in her annoyingly happy voice. "Now is the time that you have all been waiting for. We are about to lose one more guy and one more girl from this competition so lets turn to our judges and see what they've decided

Rosalie was put out of her misery first. The first thing Nigel did was ask Jasper to step forward, comment him on his solo and his disco routine from last night. Nigel wasn't sure why he'd wound up in the bottom in the first place and he was asked to get of stage.

"Oh, thank God."

Rose whispered as Jasper exchanged a few short words with Mike and clapped Jake on the back. He jogged off stage, skipping the stairs in favor of simply hopping off right in front of Rosalie. Rose jumped at him and locked her arms around his neck as he pulled her into a hug.

Nigel turned the microphone over to Mary and she talked briefly to both Mike and Jake. Small fingers wove threw mine and I turned to find Rose holding my hand again. Jasper and Emmett were both standing on her other side. She gave me a small smile.

"I hope he makes it." She said softly nodding back up at the stage. "Jakes a good dancer, I don't think they'll send him home for one bad routine. From what I saw it was Heidi that really messed it up for them."

I smiled and squeezed her hand back finding comfort in the small gesture. Mary called Mike forward and after a little banter between her and Nigel, which I bet was supposed to be funny, they dismissed him and Jake passed into the next round.

"Yes!"

I clapped my hands and did a little dance giving Rose a big hug and then turning on Edward who had been standing on my other side during the whole exchange. "He made it." I cheered giving him a hug too, keeping his hand in mine when I let go.

Jake paled as far as I'd ever seen a Native American pale and then he shot off the stage, jumping down to join the rest of us. Charlie and Billy went wild and Billy yelled something in Quileutes that made Jake laugh. I gave him a one armed hug before he was pulled away to be congratulated by Erik and some of the other boys.

Cat called the girls forward and Rose and I made funny faces at Alice while we waited for the commercial break to be over. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and went cross-eyed at us just as the camera's turned back on and Rose and I broke into a fit of laughter hoping the cameras had caught her makeing faces.

The girls went faster then the boys had because the judges were unanimous in their decision. Mary practically yelled at Alice and told her to get off the stage and she was followed shortly by Victoria. Heidi joined Mike by Cat and she asked them what they were going to take from the competition. I missed their answers as Alice ran down the stairs and threw herself at us.

Rose and I intercepted her before she could get to Jasper in order to claim our hug time and then we let her go so Jasper could have his turn. Alice was all smiles as she wrapped her arms around his neck and Jasper swept all five foot nothing of Alice off her feet and spun her in a circle.

We all took our turns congratulating Victoria and then as Cat dismissed the show we raced on stage to dance to the ending them song and say goodbye to the evicted dancers. Heidi cried and thanked everyone for the awesome time she'd had and Alice secretly celebrated that Mike was going home. Now that her partner was getting sent home she would end up teaming up with Jake for next week.

"He's about six inches taller then Mike." I reminded her as the lights dimed and the cameras shut down at the end of our scheduled hour.

She shrugged. "I think we'll be ok."

I had just enough time after the show to give Charlie, Billy and Esme all a big hug and thank them again for coming when a crew man came around and herded all of the dancers out the back door and onto our bus. I fell into the seat next to Edward and yawned.

"Sleepy?" He asked

I nodded. "Most definitely."

The dark lighting in the bus as well as the soft hum of the motor would have put me to sleep if Alice had stopped talking, but she kept up an even flow of chatter all the way home and forced me to participate in most of the conversation. I held onto Edward's arm as we filled into the building and was grateful for its support on the stairs or I would have fallen over.

"Um…Bella where are you going?"

"Hum?"

I yawned again and turned to look at Emmett who was pointing over his shoulder. We'd all been heading upstairs and I'd missed the door to the sixth floor. The rest of the girls were all heading to our floor and I'd kept walking with Edward.

I looked up at Edward and blushed. Emmett laughed a stupid sugestive grin on his face.

"I mean if you want to come up stairs with Edward I'm all game He needs to get laid bad-"

*Wack*

"...hay! What the hell man?"

I was beat red, Edward looked like he might be going into shock and Jake had smacked Emmett in the back of the head with a scowl on his face.

"Watch your mouth Cullen." Jake threatened.

"Damn it." Emmett cursed rubbing at the back of his head. "It was a joke."

"Guys stop it." I said dropping Edward's arms. I shot him an embarrassed look and climbed back down the stairs to my floor, purposely walking so I had to step between Jake and Emmett. I pushed them both back a step.

"I just missed the door, its late." I blew them all a kiss and waved good night slipping behind the door to my floor before anyone could say anything.

Alice wanted to celebrate so Rose, Leah and I joined her in her room for movie marathon. I made it threw _Tango and Cash_ and five minutes into the new _Startrek_ movie before I passed out on the floor near the end of Alice's bed.

* * *

~Darkrose

Leave a review and let me know what you think. I'll try to get the next cupple of chapers up quick but no telling what kind of time I'll have. School starts up again on Monday :(


	37. Mud Bath

For those who asked my book is called. "Outcast" but, I don't have any release dates set in stone yet. Thanks for all your support.

hope the length of this chapter will make up a little bit for my lack of updating, I've been band from typing for the last two weeks (Doctors orders) apparently the cartilage in my wrists is really weak, so I'm eighteen and I already have carpal tunnel (WooHoo). He's says I've got to limit how much time I spend writing every day or I'm going to need surgery by the time I'm twenty-five.

Chapter 37- Mud Bath

* * *

Pov-Bella

"Bella?"

Small fingers pushed against my shoulder and I rolled over tucking myself farther under the blanket I was wrapped in.

"Bella get up." The same light voice insisted sounding more irritated as the tinny fingers tugged on my arm again.

I groaned and pressed my face into the warm quilt. "Five more minutes." I pleaded with the high pitched voice trying to tug my blanket away from me. It was too early to deal with Alice.

"No." Alice insisted getting grumpy with me. "Your Boo is standing in my doorway and you need to get out so I can shower before breakfast."

I sat up so fast, Alice and I clonked heads. My boo?

"Ouch." I squeezed my eyes shut and bit down on my bottom lip as a sharp pain shot threw my still foggy head and I clutched at my forehead.

Alice rolled back on her heels; hands pressed to her forehead, and let off a few stronger words she probably learned dodging traffic in New York. Alice had the vocabulary of a sailor with a P.H.D.

"You ok Bella?"

I opened one eye, wincing at my oncoming headache and found Edward standing over us looking concerned. Rose was sitting on the bed above me and I was wrapped in Alice's quilt on the floor. The menu screen for _Finding Nemo_ was still playing on the TV, but someone had muted the volume so I could see the fish talking but no words were coming out.

"I'm ok." I glanced over at Alice who was crouched by my side hands still on her forehead. "Alice? I'm sorry, are you ok?"

She groaned and rolled back to her toes standing up. "I'll live."

I took Edward's hand and he helped me up, catching me when I tripped over the blanket tangled around my feet.

"How long have you been here?" I ask him kicking Alice's quilt away and grabbing my things.

He shrugged. "Not long, Alice was telling me about your movie night."

Alice walked us to the door and said she would see us down at breakfast later. Rose ran a hand threw her still snarled blond hair, sleep deprived bags under her eyes. "What time is it anyway?" She asked glancing down at her bare wrist like there would be a watch there.

Edward glanced down at his watch. "Twenty to six."

Rose groaned and disappeared into her room, complaining about not having adequate time to shower and do her hair. Edward followed me into my room and said he would wait for me while I jumped into a still cold shower. I shampooed and rinsed as fast as I could, not taking the time to repeat, before slipping into a pair of black sweats and threw a tank top over my sports bra. I brushed my teeth, skipped flossing, and found Edward still lying on my bed looking far more appetizing then anything the crew could be serving for breakfast downstairs.

Edward passed me my brush and told me about his own movie night while I brushed out my hair before it could start getting tangled. Emmett had tried to have a Harry Potter movie night and insisted that they try watching all six DVD's plus bonus features.

"I only made it to the second one but, I think Em and Jasper made it to the third or forth one before they passed out."

I tied my hair into a messy bun so it wouldn't drip water allover my shirt and stepped into my fuzzy slippers. All we had to do today was film the next set of dance choices, nothing worth getting dressed up for and I didn't feel like wearing shoes.

"Ready?" Edward asked holding my door open for me.

"Let's do it."

We walked down stairs and ran into Erik in the stairwell. Once I'd gotten my food I slipped into a seat next to Emmett, Edward on my other side, and dug into my pancakes. Only fourteen dancers were left and I'd noticed that the crewmen had taken one of the smaller tables out of the lounge to give us more space. We didn't need it anymore.

"Morning Bella."

I was pulled back into the slow breakfast conversation as Jake and Leah sat down with their own plates of breakfast food.

"Morning Jake, Leah."

Conversation rose and fell throughout breakfast never maintaining a steady beat or a steady topic. Emmett hadn't hosted a mass party but it turned out a lot of the dancers had grouped up to watch movies or talk long past the time we all should have been in bed.

A crew guy came in just after seven to get us and we all walked down to the auditorium for the tapping of the next dance style choice. Cat was already waiting on the stage for us and she smiled as we walked in.

"Good morning everyone." She called, far more chipper then the rest of us on this slow morning.

Everyone said good morning back as we lined up on stage and Cat called some direction to the guys up in the lighting booth. Cat had to get the batteries in her mic replaced and then another crew guy brought the magic "_hat of doom" _out.

Cat took the black top-hat and got a cue from camera one to start her script. She wishes us all good morning again and explained how the drawing would work so anyone who hadn't seen the show before would understand what we were doing and how it would affect the show. I was standing just in front of Edward, lined up with the other couples while we waited for her to address us.

"But this week America our dancers are in for a surprise." Cat said turning her hundred watt smile on us. My stomach flopped and I heard a few of the dancers start whispering to each other. What surprise? I hated surprises.

Cat shook the hat in front of her and we all heard the scrapping of paper. "This week America-" She continued turning back to the camera. "Each pair will be drawing two styles from the hat and on Wednesday each pair will be dancing to two dances for the judges."

I glanced up at Edward and he smiled down at me. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Cat, he never seemed to worried about anything.

"Angela, Erik" Cat held the hat out. "Why don't you two go first? Come up here and each of you draw one card."

Angela and Erik stepped forward and one by one picked a small white card out of the hat. Erik had Contemporary and Angela had African Rumba. Rosalie and Ben got Broadway and Tango. Alice and Jake got Hip-hop and Salsa and then it was time for Edward and I to go.

We stepped up to cat and she held the hat out to me. I reached forward and grabbed the first card my fingers touched. I pulled the card out but didn't look at it as Edward pulled a card to. The camera zoomed in as we flipped them open and I looked down to see what we had. Edward had pulled Contemporary and I had the Viennese Waltz.

"How do you feel about your choices?" Cat asked holding her mic out in my face. I hesitated for a second before finding my voice. "I was hopping I'd get to try a Viennese Waltz." I said honestly. Edward agreed with me and said he was looking forward to getting to do more contemporary, then we retreated to the other side of the stage with the groups who were done.

Once all of the groups were done getting their two styles Cat whished us a good day-off and said the bus would be waiting to take us into town in an hour if we wanted to go. Alice and Rose were waiting for me as I started to climb down the sitars from the stage. I groaned and tried to turn around, hoping that if I hide backstage I wouldn't have to go. I didn't feel like playing Barbie Bella and being dragged around town all day.

Edwards grabbed my shoulders when I bumped into him and forced me to continue walking forwards. He had a smile on his face and I frowned. He was feeding me to the sharks.

"Edward." I complained, trying to fight my way free.

He chuckled at me; his stupid, beautiful laugh making it very hard to be irritated at him. "I promise you'll like this Bella, trust me ok?" He pushed me back lightly and a pair of smaller hands grabbed me. This must be how a bear felt when it realizes its leg is caught in a trap and its not going to get away without chewing itself free.

"Come on Bella, we don't have much time." Alice said in her business voice that meant I was in for a nightmare full of powders and sprays and curling irons.

I pouted at Edward who waved at me as Alice and Rose pulled me out of the auditorium and up the stairs. Alice spun me into her bathroom and a chair materialized out of nowhere just in time to catch me. Alice was calling out instructions pulling at the band holding my hair up. She tugged when it wouldn't come out and I winced.

"Rose, go and get that dress we made her get the first time we went into town."

A dress! "Alice do I really need to wear a dress out shopping?"

"Shh." She commanded brushing out my damp hair as it curled. "Do not complain; you're going to love this. I'm your new favorite person. Just give me a half hour to make you even more stunning then you are normally."

I rolled my eyes.

"Bella," Alice said frowning at me in the mirror. "You're a beautiful girl, everyone else sees it. You need to have more confidence in yourself."

I resisted rolling my eyes again but said nothing. Alice and Rose were both beautiful. Rose with her long legs, perfect hair and runway attitude. She had dark eyes that hinted at mystery and drove boys crazy while they trid to learn her secrets. Alice was petit and perfect in an exotic pixy way, her ebony hair spiked out around her soft face and her eyes were bright blue. My hair was light brown and my eyes were a flat brown. I wasn't particularly short or tall. My bust was normal, I didn't have any talents other then dancing, and I liked to read old books. I was normal, brown, plain and boring.

True to her word, thirty minutes later Alice spun my chair around and let me look in the mirror. She and Rose had run soft curls threw my hair and a little dark powder on my eyes matched the dark blue color of my dress. I looked better then I had for our photo shoot week one and my signature flush colored my cheeks.

"Wow Alice." I breathed not knowing how else to describe what I was seeing.

She beamed at me, hands on her hips and a proud smile on her face. "See Bella, I know what I'm doing."

"I never said you didn't know what you were doing." I countered. "I just don't see the point of getting all dressed up just so we can run around Las Vegas and spend too much money shopping. I'll be in and out of changing rooms all day anyway and it'll just mess up all of your work"

She and Rose exchanged smirks and I felt my expression turn suspicious. "Guys?" They were planning something.

Rose cut me off before I could say anything more. "Alice, we're running out of time. Now we need to get ready."

Alice clapped her hands. "Right and Bella still need's shoes."

Alice pushed me onto her bed and ordered me to stay and not touch my face. Ten minutes later both she and Rose had changed into nice jeans and cute tops with sneakers. Alice ordered me into a pair of black boots with two inch heels and glared at me when I opened my mouth to complain. Why weren't they wearing dresses and heels?

Rose tied her hair into a simple pony tail, her bangs curling around her face and Alice left her short hair spiking out around her face like a black halo. They both looked incredible regardless but, I looked like I was going to a fancy party or a fairytale ball. All I needed was a prince and a pumpkin carriage. I felt like a pouting five year old but it wasn't fair.

Rose took my hand and pulled me out into the hall, Alice trailing along behind me after she locked up her room.

"Here's your bag Bella."

Rose passed me a dark blue purse I'd never seen before and told me my phone and wallet were in it along with every thing else I would need for the day. I didn't ask what else I would possible need. Only a few other people were on the bus when we got on and I smiled when I noticed Edward was one of them. I might not have the magic, horse-drawn pumkin carriage but I had the perfect prince charming.

The only other people on the bus were Victoria and Tanya sitting in the last seats with James. A man with dark hair in the seat in front of them was dressed in the same shirt Leo was wearing. Their body guard for the day.

Rose and Alice sat in front of Edward and I almost jumped into the seat next to him. Leo was sitting across the isle from us chatting with the bus driver.

"Wow Bella." Edward said as he took in the dress, he was flustered and I blushed. Alice had made me try on this dress in the first place because it was Edward's blue. The same color as the tank-top I liked to sleep in.

"Yes?" I asked softly, hoping he would continue.

"You look amazing."

I blushed darker. "Thanks. Alice and Rose are good at what they do."

He looked up and I followed his gaze to find Alice and Rose both turned around in their seat watching us, satisfied smiles on their faces.

"Thanks Alice." He said and she beamed at him.

"Any time Edward."

I didn't get it. Alice started talking about all of the shops she wanted to hit today and my feet started hurting. The dress was worth it because Edward liked it but, these shoes would give me blisters after an hour of walking around.

The bus pulled up to its usual drop off place and Edward waved goodbye as Alice hooked an arm threw mine and started towing me down the street.

"So where are we going first?" I asked as we turned around the block.

Rose giggled and Alice smiled at me. I smiled at Rose, glad to see her having fun but my mood turned suspicious again when we stopped seemingly randomly on the road and Alice leaned against the nearest building arms folded across her chest.

"Rose and I are going to Brandon's first to see the new designs my aunt released this week. I'm not exactly sure where you're going."

They were ditching me. "I'm not coming with you?" What did I do? Were they mad at me?

"Bella is going off alone?" Leo asked. He'd been following us silently, keeping an eye out in case anyone recognized us like he always did.

"She won't be alone Leo don't worry. She can call us if they really need you." Rose said comforting our body guard. We'd never needed his assistance during one of our shopping trips, but after some of the stories he'd told us I was always grateful he came with us.

Alice stepped forward and took one of my hands. "Don't worry Bella. We're not mad at you or anything like that; we got you a surprise. I told you I was going to be your favorite person." She spun me around and shoved me forward. "Surprise!"

I toppled forward in my heels and crashed into a hard chest as warm arms snaked around my waist to hold me up. My fingers instantly curled into his shirt and if the smell of spice, fresh cotton and boy hadn't been enough the sound of his voice confirmed who I'd run into. My prince had saved me from falling, again.

Edward was back.

"Was that really necessary Alice?" He asked the troubling pixy as I found my footing and turned back around to glare at her. She could have twisted my ankle. I hurt myself enough as it was I didn't need her adding to my injuries.

Alice smiled up at him ignoring me. "I'm doing you a favor today Cullen, don't question my methods. I'm losing a full day of shopping with the one girl at the studio who needs it most. I got her dressed and away from the others for you. As long as you avoid Tanya and her little gang you'll be fine. I talked Jasper into talking Emmett into keeping the others busy back at the studio so none of the other dancer should be coming into town today. And by the way-" She took a deep breath before finishing. "You're welcome."

"You told Jasper about this?" Edward questioned.

Alice shook her head. "No, he doesn't know exactly why he's helping me but, he already knows you and Bella are into each other; he's very good at reading people. I'm not sure why you guys are trying to hide it everyone can tell."

"What exactly is going on?" I asked sick of being the only one besides Leo who was out of the loop. Our bodyguard had stopped listening to us a while ago and he was scanning the street for trouble.

Rose stepped forward and smiled knowingly at me her arms crossed over her chest. "Edward came to us this morning and asked if we'd help him set up this little meeting. You didn't think we'd really make you wear those shoes for shopping did you? We're not that mean."

I glanced down at little Alice who was staring at Edward withy a knowing look on her face and then back up at Rose who was smiling at me. "Yes you are."

She laughed. "True, but not today; have fun you two."

"Bella, Edward are you comfortable going off alone or would you rather I call another guard to join you?" Leo asked, his phone already out as he turned back to our conversation.

"I'll take care of her." Edward promised and I nodded along, not wanting someone to tag along on my time alone with Edward.

"I'll call Alice if we need you." I promised him.

Alice waved goodbye and made plans to meet up with us later so we could split up before going back to the bus and then they walked off down the sidewalk leaving us alone.

I glanced up at Edward and smiled when he took my hand. "So what are we doing?"

"If you don't have any objections I'm taking you on a date, Ms Swan."

I blushed and moved my hand so our arms were hooked together as we started walking in the opposite direction, partly because I wanted to be closer to him partly because I needed help in my heels over the uneven sidewalk. "I don't object at all."

He smiled. "Good, then lets go."

We window shopped on some smaller streets for over an hour finding lots of cute little ma and pop shops. I bought a worn, vintage cope of my favorite book _Withering Heights_ and complained when Edward bought me the copy of _Romeo and Juliet_ I'd also been looking at.

"Bella this is supposed to be a date." He reminded me. "Besides it was only five dollars."

I relented and took the book, tucking it with the other one in my bag because I really wanted it and it was a sweet gersture. "Thank you."

He opened the door for me and we continued our way down the street. "Are you hungry?" He asked pointing up the road at a little ice-cream parlor. It was cute and the sun above us made today a good day for ice-cream.

"Sure."

We got one of the small round tables outside under a large rainbow umbrella and I ordered a strawberry cone whereas Edward got chocolate. We chatted about the show and the other dancers and how we thought we would do next week.

"Two dances will make it harder." I said honestly thanking the waitress who brought us our ice-cream. Edward nodded along.

"Which one do you think will be harder?"

I thought for a moment catching a drip of ice cream when it threatened to melt off my cone and onto my dress. Alice would kill me if I got it dirty. Then she would probably buy me a new one.

"Probably the Waltz." I said swiping his napkin because I didn't have one so I could wipe off my hand. "I don't have much experience with Waltz's." I admitted.

He grabbed a napkin dispenser off another table and laughed at me when my cone tried to melt on me again. The stupid thing was out to get me.

"The Waltz will be slow and exposed-" He agreed. "but, I think I'm more worried about the contemporary number."

"Whys that?" I asked licking my way around the base of the ice-cream laughing internally when there were no more drips to threaten my dress. I win!

"Contemporary is a very loose term. Depending on who we get to choreograph for us, it could mean just about anything. I kind of hope we get Mia Michaels. I would love the chance to meet her. She's always been one of my favorites."

I nodded. "I'd love to meet her, or Sonya Tayeh. Her pieces are always so different."

"Lets not talk about the show anymore." He suggested, running his free hand threw his shaggy bronze hair. It had grown a bit since the show started and he could probably use a hair cut, I'd kill anyone who tried. I liked it a little longer, he looked good with his hair in his eyes. "This is supposed to be our free day."

"Ok." I agreed. "Tell me something about you."

"Like what?" He asked.

"You play piano right?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"How did that start?"

"Esme plays the cello. I never got the hang of string instruments and I didn't want to join the band with Emmett so I picked up the piano. In high school I played with the jazz band but mostly I just play at home for our family."

"What does Emmett play?"

Edward laughed. "He used to play the trumpet. He was pretty good at it to; he just didn't have the drive to continue after he got out of high school. What about you? Any musical instruments?"

Now I laughed. "No, I don't play anything other then the occasional card game."

"What's your favorite card game?"

"Go fish." I answered immediately.

"Tell me about the dance school you teach at." He asked leaning back in his seat as he finished the last of his cone."

I told him all about Samba Sun. I'd been dancing there since I was eleven and I started assisting in teaching when I was seventeen. I told him all about Erika, the owner of Samba Sun and about some of the dance competitions I'd done with Matt. He asked questions about my relationship with Summer and my mom and I asked questions about his relationships with Tanya's family.

Tanya lived with her two younger sisters, Kate and Irina, her cousin Carmen and Carmen's husband Eleazar. He had no remaining living family but Emmett had an uncle in Montana who spent too much money on alcohol and hadn't wanted to adopt Emmett when his sister died leaving him orphaned. We talked easily all morning and it was eleven thirty by the time we left the ice-cream parlor to do more window shopping.

We spent all day asking questions and I even got him to try on a really ugly vest in an old vintage clothing shop. He made me try on a bright yellow dress with a nasty orange trim in return. Alice would have killed us both for putting them on, then demanded that both garments be burned for the sake of the worlds fashion sense. We got lunch at a small deli. I got a pasta salad with chucks of vegetables in it and Edward got a sandwich with two funny kinds of sausage in it.

"What are your plans after the show?" He asked while we ate. We'd carried our lunch down to a small park near the deli and were eating at an old picnic table under a giant tree.

"I'm not sure." I admitted. "It depends on how well I do in the show. If I don't win I'll probably go back to Samba Sun for a while. Publicity from the show will be good for the school. I'd like to eventually get on a dance crew."

"What if you do win?" He wondered.

I scoffed. "_If_ I win," Which was unlikely, given my amazing competition. "I'd like to choreograph. I had a lot of fun doing the random group number during the call backs. Maybe I could hook up with a dance crew as their choreographer or start my own dance crew."

"What about the top ten tour?"

I nodded. "If I make the top ten you bet, a tour with the show would be so much fun." Cat had told us about the top-ten tour this morning after the drawing. It hadn't been a surprise since the show hosted a tour every year for the season's top-ten, but they weren't releasing that information to the public yet so we had to keep it very _hush hush_ for now. Information about the tour would be released on the night the top-ten were revealed.

"What about you? Has Carlisle talked to you more about that med school?"

He nodded. "I've actually already been accepted, should I chose to go."

"Really?" I hadn't heard that he'd actually been accepted.

He nodded. "Yep, a full ride scholar ship at Carlisle's old school starting next year. I'm not sure I'll take it yet."

"You'd be crazy to pass that up." I said forking a bite of pasta in my mouth. "What part of medicine would you specialize in?"

He shrugged. "I'd like to be a chest surgeon. If I'm going to join the medical force I'm going to go all the way. That would make Carlisle extremely happy."

He talked a bit about his adopted fathers practice back in Forks and the different parts of medicine he liked. If he didn't pursue surgery he thought working with kids might be fun. While he talked I noticed that he pointed out how much Carlisle would like it if he joined the medical force but, he never once said it would make _him_ happy.

He stopped in the middle of a sentence and looked over my shoulder. "Oh no."

I twisted around looking for whatever had worried him. "What?"

I shouldn't have asked, the trouble was obvious as a stack of bright blond curls bounced down the sidewalk. Tanya, Victoria and James were walking into the park just a football fields length from us. We were about to get busted alone in the park.

"Come on, get up."

Edward took my hand and I followed him as we jogged up the path a bit. There was stream in the middle of the park with an old wooden bridge crossing over the middle. We slipped off the path and I followed him through the trees towards the water.

James had a Frisbee with him and they started playing in the clearing next to the table with our lunch garbage on it.

We crept along the bushes and had to duck down the bank of the stream when a long throw from James put Victoria only a few yards from our hiding place. Edward took my hand and helped me down the last of the dirt bank. We ducked under the bridge so they wouldn't see us and I slid in the soft dirt throwing my hands out to catch my balance. The bank of the stream was soft from the water and the soil squished under our feet as we walked.

"Carful." Edward grabbed my elbows and helped me find my balance again before crawling up the side of the bank to check the coast. His tennis-shoes gave him better support then the stupid shoes Alice had put me in.

He slid back down, getting dirt on his knees, and rejoined me under the bridge.

"Their going to be here a while I think. I'm not sure if we can get out without being seen."

I groaned. "Great."

"Don't tell me you never wanted to see the underside of a Vegas park bridge." He said sarcastically pointing at the old wood above our heads.

I smiled and glanced up. The bridge could probably stand to be stained again and there were cobwebs everywhere along with some old gang tags in bright colored spray pant. "It's lovely." I said sarcastically.

I tried to move closer to him but slipped in the mud again; the soft dirt giving way under my heels. Edward held out his arms to catch me but lost his own footing in the process. I landed in his lap and he landed in the mud.

Mud kicked up around us ruining our cloths and suddenly a drip of ice cream looking like a blessing. My boots were coated in slick mud and my dress had been splattered when we fell. Edward's legs were coated in the thick sludge and the mud had splashed up on his back and arm's

"Are you ok?" I asked whipping a streak off his cheek with my finger. Part of my brain loving the way his skin felt under my fingers and marveled at the perfection of his cheek bones while the other side realized I'd just made us both fall flat on our asses in the mud.

He was quiet for a second and I was afraid he might be hurt or worse mad at me, then he laughed. His arm's tightened around my waist as we slid farther down the muddy slop but he continued to laugh. The sound was infectious, I loved Edward's laugh and soon I was laughing along with him.

"I'm fine Bella, are you ok?" He asked through his chuckles.

I nodded trying to whip more of the mud of his chest. "I'm fine Edward, thank you for catching me again."

"Alice is going to kill you." He said lifting up the edge of my muddy dress.

I rolled my eyes and scooped some of the mud up with my fingers.

"My dress doesn't look as bad as your shirt."

He glanced down, his pants were covered but his shirt had come out mostly unscathed in the front.

"My shirts not to-"

I cut him off, slapping the mud I'd picked up on his chest and then whipping my hand up his neck leaving a dirty brown streak behind. For added measure I poked him in the nose leaving a glob of mud behind.

"You were saying?" I asked laughing again.

He was shocked silent for a second by my childish move and then his arm's tightened around my waist, holding me still.

"I was saying you look good in brown but I prefer you in blue."

. . . My dress was blue.

He slid me off his lap and I landed in the mud. The watery dirt soaked through my dress leaving me soaked and slippery as mud soaked into places I would rather not have mud in.

"Eww."

Once we'd gotten a hold of ourselves Edward helped me to my feet and held my hand while I pried first one and then the other sticky boot off my feet. We wadded across the shallow river not caring if we got any dirtier. Without the heels on my balance had improved significantly, and then we snuck up the other side of the bank. Once we were on level ground we checked to make sure the coast was clear and ran out a side entrance to the park.

We squished down the sidewalk leaving little puddles of muddy water behind us. Edward took my bag for me while I called Alice.

"Bella? What's wrong?" She asked before the first ring had finished. She'd been waiting for me to call.

"Nothing's wrong." I said sticking my tongue out at Edward when he rolled his eyes. "We just need your particular gifts."

"What did you do?" She asked, her voice full of suspicion.

"I didn't do anything." I defended myself. "Edward and I just thought it would be fun to take a mud bath and now we find ourselves needing new cloths."

All sound on the other end of the phone went dead.

"Alice?" I asked, hoping we hadn't been cut off. I had crappy service and the tall buildings might have interfered with our call.

"You got mud on that dress! Isabella Marie Swan I leave you alone for one afternoon and-" She growled in the middle of her sentence before continuing. "Do you know how hard it is to get mud out of silk? Meet us at Brandon's and I'll- You, Edward, I'm so. I can't believe what-" She growled again and I could hear Rosalie howling with laughter in the back ground.

"Alice slow down; I can't understand you."

When she spoke again her voice was low, dangerous, and scary. I shivered and not from the cold water soaking me to the bone or the mud in my underwear.

"Met us at Brandon's and I'll see what I can do." She disconnected and the line went dead.

"What did she say?" Edward asked when I flipped my phone off and stuck it back in my bag.

"She wants us to meet her at her mom's store."

He flinched probably remembering the horror stories I'd told him from our first shopping trip. "You know mud's not that big a deal." He said changing direction mid-step and walking down a side street away from Brandon's.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked moving to follow. I was curious and I certainly didn't mind blowing off a shopping trip with Alice.

We crossed the street and found another section of open park with a continuation of the same thin river flowing threw it. This time there were no dancers playing Frisbee running around to catch us. He turned into the park and nodded to the water.

"You want to go swimming?"

There were a few kids in the shallow water, their mom's watching over them carefully. Dog's and runners filled the path and I could hear an ice-cream truck somewhere behind the trees. It reminded me of a park near my home in Phoenix.

I nodded. "That sounds like way more fun then shopping time with Alice."

"I'll race you." He asked dropping my bag at the base of a large tree and kicking off his own shoes. My shoes were already off and I used that to my advantage. I dropped my shoes near our stuff and bolted for the clear water.

"You're on!" I yelled over my shoulder, dodging around a couple on the path and racing towards the stream. I only made it far enough into the water for it to hit my knees before Edward tackled me and we both fell forward under the cold water.

The water around us clouded with dirt and we laughed while we shook out our clothes and scrubbed the dirt from our skin. He dove under the water to scrub his hair out and when he resurfaced I splashed him. I'd never seen Edward let his guard down this far and I was enjoying this playful side of Edward.

He splashed back and before I knew what we were doing it had turned into a full out water fight with some of the kids who'd been swimming when we jumped in. I teamed up with two little girls about nine or ten and we turned against Edward and an older boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen.

I just leapt on Edward's back to attempt to push him under the water when a high pitched voice that was both recognizable and terrifying called my name from the shore with a his like a snake and just as venomous.

"Isabella, get out of that water this minute! Look at what you've don't to that dress. You should be tried and hanged for cruelty to cloth."

Alice was standing on the side of the river, tiny hands on tiny hips looking scarier then any lion I'd ever seen at the zoo, and she wasn't locked in a cage. I still had my hands locked around Edward's neck and he hitched me up farther on his back so he could whisper in my ear.

"At least were not still covered in mud or she would have burned us on the spot with that death glare."

"And she didn't catch you in that awful vest." I added as he started sloshing our way out of the water. I waved good bye to our new little friends and pointed to Alice waiting with a frown set on her face.

"Sorry we've got to go now, it was nice meeting you."

Rosalie and Leo were laughing as Edward walked out of the river, me clinging to his back and our clothes dripping on the path.

"It looks like you two had a good time." Leo noted as I tried to wring out the bottom of my dress and Edward pulled his shirt over his head to wring it out of the sidewalk. I might have drooled on myself at the sight of his bare chest but I didn't have time to comment before Alice was ushering us down the street so she could get us into dry cloths at Brandon's before we had to go home.

* * *

~Darkrose

Again I'm sorry this took so long and please leave me a review letting me know what you think. I'll get back to the competition in the next chapter, I just wantted to give us all a stronger look at the bond growing between our two favorite love birds.


	38. Double Trouble

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who's stuck with me this long, through my unpredicted and unreliable updates, life snapfoo's and school work, and all of my other excuses for not writing. This story isn't my first priority but, I always have so much fun writing it. I'll probably cry when it's finally finished. I'm not a drop dead twihard but I just love Stephenie Meyer's characters and getting to play with them in the setting of my favorite reality show makes me smile. So let's get back to the fun.

Chapter 38- Double Trouble

* * *

Pov- Bella

"Who do you think it'll be this time?" Edward asked as he reached out in front of us to open the door to dance studio six.

I shrugged my shoulders and bounced on my toes, the butterflies in my stomach were dancing to rave music, and the anticipation was killing me. We were standing in the hallway on the third floor seconds away from meeting the man or woman who would be choreographing our contemporary number for us this week.

After breakfast a man, dressed in show crew black, had told us we would get a chance to meet both of our choreographers today; one before lunch, and one after. I was nervous and had to force myself to finish eating all of my eggs. Passing out from lack of sugars would make a bad first impression and with two dances this week we couldn't afford to lose any practice time.

Edward's hand paused on the door and Roger moved in for a close up on our faces. Over the last few weeks I'd grown accustomed to the constant cameras filming our every move out side of the dance studios and the red light blinking in my face didn't phase me anymore. Edward twisted the door knob and I pushed the door open, eager to see who we would be working with.

The door burst open and I leapt into the room with Edward on my heels. I knew her at once, anyone who had ever watched the show would know her even if they couldn't pronounce her name right. She'd only been with the show for the last three seasons, but her contributions had not gone unnoticed by the judges, the dancers, or America's growing love for her work. It was Sonya Tayeh and I almost had a small fit right there in the doorway. She was my all time, personal favorite when it came to contemporary routines on the show.

Sonya was standing in the middle of the room wearing black warm up clothes that matched her black hair. She was wearing neon, knee high socks and had two pricings in each ear and one in her lip. She turned to look at us when we came in and smiled when she saw us, waving us to come out of the doorway and join her.

"Bella, Edward, welcome. Come on in here."

I smiled and bounded forward with Edward at my side, feeling much less nervous, and more like a five year old with the promise of a trip to the toy store. "You're Sonya Tayeh!"

She chuckled at my "_Captain Obvious_" moment and I blushed when Edward and Roger laughed with her. Roger had just caught me saying that with his camera which meant ten to one it would be aired all over the country in a few days…great.

"Yes I am, and I was hoping you two would draw my card. I've seen some of your previous work on the show and I think this is going to be a strong match up for both of us."

"Why's that?" Edward asked moving forward so he could shake her hand.

Sonya grabbed his hand with another big smile on her face. "Because I've been working particularly hard on this number and I needed a pair with great on stage chemistry to dance it or it wouldn't work right. I'm going to give you a challenge this week and if any of this years pairs can handle it, you two can."

I followed behind Edward and got my chance to shake Sonya's hand. "What's it about?"

Sonya glanced once at Roger and then looked me over taking a step back so she could look us both over once as Edward moved to my side. "Bella have you ever suffered from depression before?"

I was caught off guard by the question so it took me a moment to respond. "No, like what? I've never been medicated for it or anything. Why?"

"That might make this dance a little harder then." She said moving over to the stereo in the corner. "A friend of mine lost a cousin about a month ago, he'd been suffering from some really bad depression for awhile and then he committed suicide. It was a big loses for his family but, it inspired me to do a song about the struggles someone might face going through depression. A lot of the choreographers have been talking about doing numbers that touch on national problems and although I didn't know that at the time this number works out for that cause."

She pushed some buttons on the stereo and I glanced up at Edward. She was totally serious. We were going to do a dance revolving around depression. What in the world had we gotten ourselves into? I knew the song almost instantly when she pushed play. The opening electric guitar cords were unmistakable. It was from Rihanna's newest CD, "Russian Roulette." I'd never been a big fan of Rihanna herself but, this song was amazing.

We sat down on the floor to stretch and Sonya told us more about the layout of the dance and the emotions she hoped to achieve behind the physical concept of the number.

"Bella your character is the one who's fighting with depression throughout the song. Edward you're going to be trying to help her, kind of like a guardian angel, or those cute little angel and devil spirit things that sit on peoples shoulders and tell them right from wrong."

From the way she explained it Edward's character would have two sides, representing the mood swings my character would go through during the song, and his costume would have two sides to help the audience connect.

The first personality would be the front of Edward's costume. When he was facing the audience his costume would be white and my character would be fighting to overcome her depression. When Edward turned around, so his back was to the audience, the back of his costume would be black, showing that my character was losing her struggle.

"Unfortunately for you Bella," Sonya continued. "Edward's not a very good Angel, at the end of the song your character is going to die."

Buzz kill.

"On the gun shot." Edward said pointing to the stereo which was playing our song on repeat. The song was currently at the beginning but we both new what he was talking about. The last note of the song was the sound of a gun going off. We were all supposed to assume that the singer was dead. It was a very dramatic song and I liked Sonya's interpretation of it. I just hoped we could do it justice for her. I was fairly decent at the acting part of dancing but I'd never had to portray a person about to commit suicide before.

Sonya nodded. "Yep, all the lights are going to go out except for a lone white spot light right in the middle. That's where you'll be standing Bella, and then the gun shot will go off and so will the light as you fall to the ground. It's going to be epic and if you two can play it right, which I think you can, I'm hoping to make Mary cry."

We'd blown our first hour talking, but as soon as she was done outlining the dance for us Sonya got to work kicking our butts. Our costume fitting wasn't until tomorrow night so for now Sonya was making Edward wear a white shirt with black paint splashed on the back. It was sloppy but it helped us both get the feel for the different moods in the choreography.

By lunch my fears that Sonya was crazy were gone. There was no fighting that fact that she was completely crazy, but her dance was amazing so it was ok. I couldn't wait until we performed it. Edward tossed an arm over my shoulders as we shuffled down the stairs and I leaned into his side and sighed. I was already sore and we still had another dance to learn after lunch.

"How you feeling?"

I shrugged not exactly sure how I felt. I was excited to do Sonya's number, nervous about seeing our next one, waiting for the next twist the show people would pull on us, hungry because it was after noon and we were already late for lunch, and oddly depressed which wasn't like me at all. Acting depressed all morning had an unexpected affect on my moral. I'd loved dancing with her but Sonya was so admit about getting the emotion right that I'd thrown myself into the mindset of someone fighting with depression. I didn't like acting depressed.

"I'm not sure." I admitted. "I'm hungry but all that talk about depression back there has me kind of down."

He nodded. "I know what you mean. I went through my own phase of teen angst but I'm pretty sure I've never been honestly depressed. Not the way she was telling it at least."

I nodded along and pulled open the door to the lounge. Everyone went through their own kind of depression when they were younger but I was pretty sure that wasn't the emotion Sonya was going for in her dance. Depression had to be pretty bad for someone to commit suicide properly and that was exactly what my character was going to do on Tuesday. I hoped the dance didn't freak my mom out.

"What do you want for lunch?"

Hu? I looked up from my thoughts and realized we were standing in front of the food table. Edward was holding a plate out to me and I wasn't sure how long he'd been talking to me. He raised an eyebrow at me when I took the plate.

"You ok?"

I nodded and grabbed a turkey sandwich and a bag of baby carrots. "I'm good, I promise. I was just thinking."

I shook off the weird feeling Sonya's dance gave me during lunch and threw myself into conversation with the other dancers to try and get myself pumped up to meet our next choreographer. Everyone was feeling good about their morning dances and most of the dancers admitted to being a little worried about having to do two dances on Tuesday's show. The only obvious sore thumb came from Tanya and her partner James.

Their first dance was a high spirited foxtrot, which Edward confirmed they'd had experience in before back in Washington, and they would be meeting with someone after lunch to learn a Paso Doble, which James was quick to inform us all that he'd had previous experience in. Both styles were crowd pleasers and, if they did well, it could earn them big points in both the eyes of the judges and America's voters. She went on and on about how she thought the foot work for their foxtrot had been too easy and how she hoped the judges wouldn't take it out on them if they didn't like the choreography.

The less noble side of me wanted to shove a sock in her mouth; preferably one of Emmett's dirty socks…a fresh one. He wasn't aloud to take his shoes off in the lounge anymore at diner because everyone had agreed his feet smelt nasty after he'd been working all day.

I tuned Tanya and her drabble out, and turned to talk to Alice who was sitting on my side with a carrot in her mouth like a cigar and her feet thrown over Jaspers lap like they'd known each other for years. They'd been almost inseparable since Alice had been let in on Jasper and Rose's secret and it was almost impossible to tell they'd ever had problems when they acted so casual together.

"What's up B?" Alice asked, noticing me staring at her.

I smiled and bit a chunk out of my sandwich. "Just thinking."

"You've been doing that a lot." Edward pointed out on my other side. Apparently I wasn't the only one tuning Tanya out and it made my day to know I had more of his attention then she did. Another point for Bella.

"There's a lot to think about in this mad house."

"What's your second style?" Jasper asked turning into our conversation and rejecting the pencil he'd been spinning in his fingers.

"Viennese Waltz."

He nodded. "Slow, exposed, and full of showy lifts; Have fun."

"We will." I promised him. Alice and I chatted about our families back home and Jasper told us a few stories about his home in Texas.

"There's nothing quite like the smell of the desert after a really bad thunder storm. The apartment I live in has a door that leads to the roof and sometimes when it rain, which isn't that often down south, but I like to go up their during the storm and watch the lightning."

I nodded along knowing what he meant by the smell of a storm on the dessert and loving the way he smiled when he talked about his home state. I wasn't sure where all the foster homes Jasper and Rose had bounced around where but it was clear to me his heart was as southern as the cowboy boots I knew he had upstairs in his room somewhere.

"Rain is really pretty in New York too, but it makes getting around a pain in the butt. I don't even have a car, driving is such a hassle and walking in the rain ruins my hair." Alice added with a chuckle. "Actually truth by told, I can't drive. I don't even have my license."

Jasper snorted in his milk and I laughed. "You can't?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I've never really thought about leaving New York and its easier there without a car, but I can hail a taxi like no ones business; watch this." Alice stuck two of her fingers in her mouth and let off a whistle that echoed around the room, made every dancer jump, and caused every dog within a five mile radius to go deaf.

"What the hell Alice?!?" Emmett said one finger in his ear, the other still holding onto his fork full of food. Several of the dancers had thrown their hands over their ears and Erik had knocked over his glass when he jumped.

Alice smiled as the whole room turned to look at her and wiggled her fingers at the table full of irritated dancers. "Sorry guys, I got a little carried away."

"You have got to teach me how to do that." Rose said scooting her chair closer to us. "It would come in handy at a big mall sale; distract everyone long enough for me to get in first."

Alice and Rose fell into conversation about some of their wildest mall stories and the rest of the dancers went back to their previous conversations. I listened to Alice tell a story about a time when she got into a fight with another lady who'd grabbed the same purse as her at a sale in some big outlet I'd never heard of before with a name that sounded French. A mall cop had to throw them both out so Alice snooped around online until she found an exact copy of the lost purse. I thought it was kind of pathetic. The only bag I carried with me back home was an old laptop bag and it worked out just great.

"So who do you think it'll be this time?" I asked Edward as we stopped outside of our second studio, stealing his line from this morning. Roger was still hovering over us, filming our conversation and we were about to find out who was going to teach us how to Viennese Waltz.

Edward shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

He pushed open the door and we found a man and a woman sitting on the floor waiting for us. I didn't recognize either person right away but I knew the song that was already playing over the loud speaker.

"I love this song." I said honestly offering my hand to the girl as she and her partner stood up.

"I'm glad." The man said stepping forward to shake our hands. "My name is Hunter Johnson and this is the song your Waltz will be to."

"What is it?" Edward asked shaking Hunters hand.

"It's called "Life after you." by Daughtry. It's a fairly new song but it's perfect for a slower Viennese Waltz." Hunter's partner said stepping forward to shake our hands.

"Bella, Edward, This is my partner Norah Blake." Hunter said, introducing the young woman. "She'll be helping us out this week."

I shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Introductions didn't last long and we didn't need to waste as much time stretch after our morning work so it wasn't long until we were back on the floor learning a new set of steps. I spent the first part of the hour working alone with Norah while Hunter worked separately with Edward on his opener. Hunter was tall with dark hair and dark eyes. Norah was Alice's five foot seven blond twin. Her workout clothes were designer and she had just as much energy.

The waltz was even slower then the contemporary piece and that made every move even more critical. Slow numbers were about grace and transitions and the chemistry between the dancers on stage. The judges had given us fairly good praise so far and I was willing to bet they'd rip us a new one if we left our transitions sloppy.

"Norah, Bella? You guys ready to try it together?" Hunter called to us from across the studio, checking on our progress.

Norah thought I was getting the start of the dance down so we moved to the middle of the room to try it out with Edward's set. I'd be wearing a long dress for this number next week so I'd pulled a full length skirt on over my leggings to practice in. We had the first string of moves down and were heading into an assisted lift when we hit our first bit of trouble.

The lift was relatively simple compared to some of the ones we'd already done on the show. I started a few steps in front of Edward and when the music swelled I had to move into a double step and jump, using his shoulders to brace myself. My knees would catch on his chest and he'd hold me up by my butt so I was hovering above him. The only problem with it was, I couldn't jump high enough on my own.

The first attempt at the jump I kneed Edward in the gut and knocked the wind out of him, the second time I was off center so he didn't catch me right and I almost kneed him in the chin when I fell backwards. I wasn't sure what went wrong the third time but I wound up on the floor again staring up at Edward with a bruise developing on my tail bone and the start of a headache in my temples. I was so glad the doctor had let me take off the wrist brace. My hand hurt but I'd regained almost all of my mobility and the bruising and swelling was gone.

"Ouch."

He held his hand out to me and pulled me back to my feet. "You ok?"

"Yes, you're just too tall."

"We need to get you into higher shoes." Hunter commented pointing at my work out flats. "The shoes with your costume come with three inch heels so you'll start out a few inches higher. That will help with your jumping problems."

"The costumes won't be here until tomorrow." Norah pointed out. She glanced down at my feet. "What size shoes do you wear Bella?"

"Eight."

She smiled and kicked off the silver heels she was wearing. "Me too, lets trade. You can borrow mine for today."

Norah's shoes were a little tight but the extra height made me almost as tall as Edward and made me fear falling down even more.

"That should help." Hunter hoped resetting the music. "Run the first verse again and let's try the jump now."

I took my opening stance, facing the audience, currently a giant mirror wall, a few feet behind Edward. Edward was sitting on the ground with his legs out in front of him. On the stage he'd be hanging his legs over the front of the stage but for now we were pretending.

As the music started I moved through a slow set of solo moves on the back side of the stage while Edward moved back and forth along the front of the stage. The story in this song was more about the inner conflicts of the male character, which was a perfect balance to our first dance, which dealt with the problems the female character was fighting with. I bet our choreographers got together and planed that out on purpose.

As we entered the first chorus Edward and I met center stage and tried to remember all of the movers we'd just learned. I stepped wrong in the second set but Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me back into place before the counts could get me off.

"That's ok; we can clean this part later just focuses on the counts for the jump." Hunter encouraged as he, Norah and Roger all circled around us watching our progress.

I blushed and internally yelled at myself, forcing myself to concentrate harder. There was no way Hunter could know this, but technically I'd gotten the move right. We had a move similar to it in Sonya's contemporary number that I'd learned this morning. I'd gotten the two dances mixed up for a split second and made a mistake. A move like that on the main stage next Tuesday could get me eliminated and drag Edward into the bottom with me. I couldn't rely on mussel memory when I had to keep more then one dance straight.

I forced myself to shake off the mistake and got back into the counts of this dance. I felt the swell in the music as it came and moved into the double step, taking a deep breath as I prepared for the jump. I leapt and over knew I'd over shot my mark. The heels made me to high and I hadn't allotted enough space for the new height. Edward grabbed onto me as my knee's hit him to high in the chest and my weight along with the awkward angle sent us both hard to the ground. Edward landed flat on his back and I somersaulted over his head when he let go of my legs, throwing my arms up to keep myself from face planting on the panel flooring.

Hunter jumped to check on Edward and Norah started laughing at us. I crawled so I was kneeling over Edward's head and blew my hair out of my face. "I'm sorry, are you ok?" I asked. He looked a little dazed and I was hoping I hadn't knocked the air out of him again.

He coughed and took a long drag from the water bottle Hunter passed him. "I'm fine Bella, I think you got high enough that time."

"Sorry." I said again.

He shrugged and pushed himself into a sitting position. Norah was still smiling as she helped me to my feet.

"I like your version of the jump Bella but, I don't recommend doing that on stage the judges might not like it."

I rolled my eyes and moved back into my starting position. "Let's do it again."

We had to run the jump probably twenty times but, we eventually got to a point were, not only weren't we falling down, but I was staying centered so Edward could catch me right for the next move. After he caught me he was to spin us around and drop me to my feet for the next set of partner moves. Getting down was the easy part.

Diner went by in a blasé of pizza and cards. I got into a massive Go Fish war with Erik, Victoria and Jake. Jasper and Emmett were taking beats on who would win and Alice was trying to send me clues as to what Jake was holding, since she was sitting behind him, but I couldn't read her lips well enough to know what she was saying.

Erik won the game. Emmett lost ten bucks, and Alice was setting up to give me lip reading lessons.

It was ten thirty and I was standing in my room wearing nothing but my tank-top with wet hair when someone knocked on the door. I pulled a pair of shorts on as fast as I could and found Jasper standing in the hall with Alice and Edward.

"I thought I'd take you up on that offer to spend the night again." Jasper said moving into my room and dumping the arm full of pillows and blankets he was holding on the floor in front of my bed. Alice followed him in waving a movie in her hand.

"I brought the Lion King and Ed's got the popcorn."

"If you call me Ed again I'm going to start calling you Mary." Edward threatened shutting my door behind him as he came into the room, making sure to flick the lock closed so no one else would walk in on us.

Alice coughed and waved her hand dismissively in the air. "I meant to say that Edward's got the popcorn."

Edward smiled. "Thank you."

Alice put the movie in while I tossed the popcorn in my microwave. Edward's cold fingers startled me when he ran them across my exposed stomach and I jumped when he kissed the back of my head.

"Someone's jumpy." He pointed out with that sexy little smirk of his.

I spun around and moved his hands down to my hips. "Your fingers are cold."

He smiled and pinned me against the counter so we could make out until the popcorn was done. Three and a half minutes of uninterrupted bliss without the fear of cameras catching us. Alice already new about our relationship and I didn't care if jasper found out. Alice had said he already knew, and I was positive he would keep our secret.

Jasper and Alice were both smiling at us when we broke apart at the sound of the microwave beeping and I flicked Alice off when she woof whistled at us threatening not to let her have any popcorn if she wasn't nice.

"Oh shut up and pass the bowl." She countered holding out her hand for the popcorn.

"I knew there was something going on between you two." Jasper said with a smile as he helped himself to a hand full of popcorn and sunk into the blanket nest he'd made for Alice and himself on the floor. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing when I noticed that his black pajama pants said NCC1701D across his butt. I wasn't a big on Star Trek but even I knew that was the number for the starship Enterprise.

"You can't tell anyone." I said flicking off the over head light. "Or I'm going to get a picture of you in those pants and post it all over Facebook and Youtube."

"Not a word." He promised. "And you can have a picture if you want. These are my favorite sleeping pants."

Alice pushed play while Edward and I flipped the pillows on my bed so our heads were closer to Alice and Jasper and our feet were against the headboard. I turned off the bedside light and tucked myself into Edward's side just as the lions were getting ready for the presentation of Simba. This was my all time favorite Disney movie.

I managed to bite my tongue on the first song but couldn't stop myself from singing along with "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" Alice joined my alto with an impressive soprano and Jasper made a smart comment about girls having an unnatural talent for memorizing movies with talking animals when we not only continued to sing along with all of the songs we started doing voiceovers for all of the characters spoken words. There was a small pillow fight in which Alice wound up in Jasper's slippers and Edward lost his shirt all together. I think it got shoved somewhere near our feet but I wasn't going to tell him that after he pulled me back to his side so we could cuddle while Simba got chased out of the Pride Lands by Scars minion hyenas.

I fell asleep somewhere between, Nala trying to eat Pumba, and Timon dressing in drag, which was ok because I knew the movie backwards and inside out and Edward had one arm around my waist and his nose in my hair. I was pretty sure he was asleep but I couldn't tell and I didn't really care because this was one of the best nights I'd spent in Las Vegas. Hakuna Matata.

* * *

~Darkrose

R&R

Songs in this chapter:

1. "Russian Roulette" by: Rihanna

2. "Life After You" by: Daughtry

Ps: Lion King really is my all time, super favorite Disney movie and if you haven't seen it you should because it's adorable and full of awesome African drum music.


	39. It had to be her

Ok everyone, here it is. This chapter is dedicated to all of the twilight fan's who belong to one of the Cullen sibling's teams. I am a strong follower of Team Jasper myself, and one of my best girlfriends lives and breathes Team Emmett. I've had some requests that I show a little more of the side relationships, and I completely agree. Yes, Bella and Edward are the main characters of this story, but their not the only one's doing some growing up during the show and I haven't done a very good job of balancing out the amount of time we spend with our favorite sets of side characters.

Chapter 39: It had to be her

* * *

Pov- Emmett

Friday, The 21…I think, Week four not counting the call back week, Top fourteen dancers, Three day's till the next live show, 1:00 in the morning. Shoot that meant it was Saturday, whatever the days all ran together here. I was sore as hell and couldn't sleep, Damn it.

I rolled out of bed, not bothering with the lights, and changed into a pair of sweat pants. I slipped, bare foot, into the hallway and knocked lightly on Edward's door. Edward was a light sleeper, had he been inside he would have heard me. That meant he was downstairs sleeping with Bella again. I smirked to myself and wondered farther down the hallway. I wasn't nearly as slow as some people seemed to think, it was way too obvious that he liked her. I just hoped he treated her right. I liked Bella, and if he was mean to her I'd kick his ass, brother or not.

Who would have imagined that sweet, little Bella would be the one to flip my little brother's life on its head? Certainly not me; He'd spent so much time shutting Tanya and every other girl down that I'd started to think he'd locked himself in the preverbal closet and was waiting for the right man to come along and help him out. She was good for him, Edward needed to loosen up, and I had a feeling that he was doing just as much good for her in return.

I slipped into the stairwell, carful not to let the door slam behind me, and climbed, nearly silently, down to the fifth floor. The building was asleep, all of the crew members had gone home and the other dancers were sleeping to rebuild their strength for tomorrow. I was to wound up to sleep right now. This building did something to a person's sleeping habits. I knew I wasn't the only one to have a restless night or two since we'd all come here. But I also had a feeling it wasn't just the building or the competition that was keeping me up, and if I was being honest with myself I knew exactly what it was that was bothering me. Who it was.

It was that girl, my thoughts shifted from Bella to the mysterious and beautiful Rosalie that had captured my interest back on day one of the call backs, which felt so long ago now. She was a puzzle, and I'd never, not solved a puzzle once I got started, but there was something so different about her. Some secret she kept from everyone that kept her from getting closer to the other dancers. Maybe I was as slow as everyone said and it was something really obvious. She was beautiful, I knew that much. No, she was more then just physically beautiful, I'd never seen a girl as perfectly breathtaking as Rosalie Hale, but that wasn't what drew me to her. She was stronger then any woman I'd ever met and definitely more then capable of taking care of herself. She could probably beat me in a fist fight if she really tried. Something about a strong woman was incredibly attractive.

A light on the floor had me stopped in my tracks. I could hear the gentle hum of music playing and the soft light spilled out of one of the studios from under the crack in the door. Guess I wasn't the only one awake this beautiful morning. I peeked in the door's window and smiled to myself again. Of course it would have to be her. Who else would be up this early the same day I was. The fates were laughing at me.

Rosalie Hale was dressed in dark work pants and a black sports bra. Her t-shirt was on the floor near the stereo. Like me, she'd decided against shoes and her hair was piled on top of her head like a crown of blond curls. She really was breathtaking. The strands of hair that had pulled free of her pins were sticking to the sides of her face and neck with sweat and she was breathing heavily. She moved quickly to the powerful beat I could feel through the door completely absorbed into the music's lyrics. I watched her while she danced, feeling sort of like a peeping tom but, unable to move away. The mussels in her legs bunched in time with her core as she moved into a set of simple flips and I marveled at how powerful she could be while still maintaining her perfect grace.

The song slowed to its end and she let herself role back on her heels until she was lying on the floor. Her hair spilled around her shoulders and she closed her eyes while her breathing slowly returned to normal. I couldn't stand in the hall anymore and my body acted before I could think my actions through.

I twisted the handle on the door and stepped inside just as the next song was starting. Rosalie didn't open her eyes, but I watched her mussels lock down and her fingers twitch. She knew someone had come in. I let the door close behind me as the music grew so we wouldn't risk waking the others and moved a few steps closer.

My mind had caught up with my body and I floundered for something to say, anything really. What was my name again? Why was I up so early? Rosalie thawed and slowly lifted herself up so she was sitting up. Her legs folded gracefully beneath her. She ran one hand threw her hair, her eyes still closed, and tugged out a couple of pins. "What are you doing up at this hour Emmett?"

She set the pins on the floor and tugged a brown tie out of her curls. Free of its bindings, her hair tumbled down around her shoulders. Rosalie turned to look at me and opened her eyes. She had the same powerful blue eyes as her brother and I felt rooted on the spot. An electric current snapped threw the air and danced along my skin and I wondered if she could feel it to.

"Um," Was the brilliant answer that came from my mouth before I regained full control over my basic motor skills. "I couldn't sleep. I saw the light on." I said by way of explanation shrugging my shoulders.

She blew part of her hair out of her face and nodded, tearing her gaze away from mine. "I couldn't sleep either."

We were silent for a while and I grabbed the first conversation starter I could think of to keep her talking. "What group is this?" I asked nodding towards the stereo.

She took a deep breath, like she was preparing herself for something, and I felt like a dick when I watched her chest rise and then fall again with her deep breathes. "Their called Within Temptation." She said.

"I like it. I've never heard them before." They were really good.

She shrugged. "I don't think they're very popular in the states but, I really like their style. They kind of remind me of another group called Evanescence."

I waited another moment and then sat down next to her. She stiffened up again and dropped her eyes to her lap. I blew out a breath and just went for it. "Why aren't you comfortable being alone with me?" I'd never been good at beating around the bush anyway. The direct approach was much more my style. "We always have so much fun talking at lunch or whenever the others are around, but then when we're alone, you stiffen up and get all shy."

She glanced up at me and then quickly dropped her gaze again and played with the string on her pants. "Maybe I'm just a shy person." She said.

"Thats Bull and you know it" I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest. "You're not a shy person. I've seen you with Alice and Bella when you're out, you don't mind being in the spot light. Something wrong and it's got something to do with me."

She nodded slowly and shrugged her shoulders. "It's not your fault Emmett." She said and I almost rolled my eyes managing to catch myself at the last minute. This didn't seem like the right time for that kind of thing.

"I know that." I told her honestly. "I haven't done anything wrong to you. You won't let me get close enough to do anything bad. You don't honestly think I would do anything to you that you didn't want me to just because were alone do you? My mom raised me better then that."

She shook her head. "Of course not Emmett and I didn't mean any insult against Esme by that. Believe me on this one, its not you it's me."

Now I did role my eyes but she didn't see because she still wasn't looking at me. How many times had I heard that line? One too many times, and I wasn't going to do it again. "Then what is it exactly, no more of this half answer stuff you're so good at. Come right out and say it to my face. I want to know if I can help."

"Why do you care so much?" She asked me un-expectantly looking up tentatively at me again. She glanced at me through her lashes and I saw a weakness that I'd never seen in her before. She hadn't told me what was wrong, but she'd taken down one of the walls between us. It was a start.

I kept her eyes locked with mine hoping she wouldn't look away again and spoke softly, like she'd shut down if I spoke to loud. She had such powerful eyes that I wasn't sure I'd be able to look away anyway. "I don't know." I told her honestly, hoping that this wouldn't sound stupid. "I've just never met a woman like you before Rosalie. I-"

She cut me off the weakness in her eyes replaced by irritation and annoyance. "Like what?" She demanded, "Nice hair and a big pair of tits! Why is that all you men ever see? I'm no different than any other woman in this building."

She pushed herself quickly to her feet and tried to march past me. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down so she was kneeling and forced her to look at me. She was wrong, she was different then the other women here. She was infuriating and stubborn and I found myself drawn to her even more by that. "That wasn't what I was going to say." I said defending myself. "I'm not a pig. Would you let me finish before you start yelling."

She huffed and blew her bangs out of her eyes, the walls back in place and stronger then ever. Shit this was going to be harder then I thought. Damn jigsaw puzzle woman.

"What then?" She asked, the walls still up and her voice still hard.

"Are you going to listen?" I asked not letting go of my hold on her arm. If Rosalie was anything like I thought she was, she was pretty damn bull headed once she'd made up her mind. There was no point in me wasting my breath if she wasn't going to listen to what I had to say.

She hesitated for a second, searching my eyes the same why I had hers. I could see it in her face when the wall came back down. Her futures softened and she sank into her knees more so I wasn't afraid she would bolt the second I let go. I didn't let go anyway, but that was more because I liked the feel of her soft hand in mine then a fear that she would bolt out the door.

She nodded after another moment. "I'll listen. I'm sorry if I over reacted."

"Good." I took my own breath not sure exactly how to say all the things I wanted to. Edward was the one who was good with words, he was eloquent. I was a man of action, my motto was (do first then talk.) I had a feeling that approach was to quick to use on Rosalie. She looked hard on the outside but I could tell she was still thinking about running from the room. One wrong step on my part and she'd bolt like a freighted doe and I might not get another shot.

"I've dated a lot of woman Rosalie." I hesitated when she raised an eye brown at me, that hadn't come out right. "Well you know not that _many, _but more then a few. Some with bigger tits then yours and," That was wrong, I was drowning. Someone throw me a life preserver! "Not that yours aren't nice, because they are…Not that I've been staring at them because I didn't." Damn it! "Well I did, but I didn't mean to, and this is coming out all wrong." That was it, I drowned. I was pretty sure I'd already messed this up but she hadn't cut me off so my mouth kept making words. "But what I was trying to get at is that you are different then any woman I've ever met. It's a good kind of different though. Something feels different when I try and talk to you. I feel like I've know you forever, but I still don't know anything about you Rosalie."

"There's something different about you too." She said softly. She glanced down at our interwoven fingers and I felt that same spark of electricity sizzle across our conjoined hands, tying me to her. "It's been a long time since I considered letting myself get close to another man besides my brother. It's never been hard to maintain an emotional distance before you showed up."

I smirked at her. "You have trouble keeping an emotional distance from me." That meant she wanted to get closer to me right? Yeah! She liked me.

She nodded. "Yes."

"Then don't."

She shook her head slightly and pulled her hand from mine. I was worried she might get up and leave but she just wrapped her arms around her waist and sat back on her heels watching the floor in-between our legs. "I don't know if I can Emmett. I'm afraid you won't want to be my friend afterwards." She admitted and I felt another wall fall down at her admittance of weakness.

That wasn't what I'd been expecting her to say. What could possible be so bad that she would think I'd push her away. "I don't think there's anything you could say that would make me not want to be your friend Rosalie." What on earth was this girl hiding from me?

"Rose." She said after a minute, smiling softly up at me. I raised an eyebrow at her. "My friends can call me Rose." She explained. "I'd like it if you did too."

I smiled despite myself. I really should try and get away from flowers. In the past they'd never been anything but trouble. I didn't care what kind of trouble I got in with Rosalie. I had a feeling I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't take my chance with her. Besides wasn't there a saying about the prettiest flowers having the sharpest thorns.

"Rose." I said and she smiled again. "That's pretty."

"My mom must have had a thing for flowers." She said with a shrug. "My middle name is Lillian."

Bum, Bum, Bum. One girl, two flowers. I had a feeling Edward would have burst into laughter had he been here. He'd bet me on day two of the call backs that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from going after Rose due to my unfortunate history with flower named girls. Let him have the money. He could kiss my ass.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale." I said trying out her whole name for myself and liking the way it rolled off the tongue. "It fits you."

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "I think it's a bit much."

I used a finger to smooth out the winkles between her eyebrows before taking her hand back in mine. "I think it's just right."

"If I tell you." She started after another moment of silence. "Will you promise me something?"

I nodded immediately. "Anything you want," and I found that I would. I'd have done anything for her in that moment. I was definitely losing it.

"I just want you to promise me that we can still try being friends; even if nothing more happens." She said softly. Her eyes had dropped to her lap again and she didn't look up as she continued talking. "I've always worked so hard to avoid telling people because they never reacted well. Lately I think it was just the type of people I'd known before because Alice and Bella both were really cool about it and supportive and I hope that you-"

"Rose, stop" I cut her off. She'd dropped her gaze to her lap again while she talked and I could tell she'd just started babbling. "I promise, no matter what it is we will still be friends afterwards. I also promise that nothing you could say would make me run away. Not even if you admitted to being an alien from Mars."

She chuckled and her fingers tightened in my grip. "I'm not an alien."

"Good, I think green skin and a pair of antenna might be a turn off." I said trying to lighten the dark mood that had settled around us.

It worked for a minute. She laughed and smiled at me, rolling her bright blue eyes, the tension around us dissipating marginally. But it didn't last, her laughter turned sad and she looked back down at her lap. "It's not a happy story," She said. "But I guess I don't have a choice anymore." She glanced up at me and I shook my head. "I want you to know."

"I'm ok with the direct approach. Just say it."

She took a deep breath and started talking. Her fingers, which were laced with mine again, held on tighter, like she was trying to keep _me_ from bolting out of the room now. I didn't run, I couldn't have moved in that moment if my life had depended on it. The last of the walls between us were coming down and I hung onto every word as she told me a bit about when she and Jasper had been kids.

I'd know they were foster kids, like me and Eddie were, but I guess I hadn't realized that they'd never found a full time home. Edward and I had been lucky. A kid couldn't have asked for a better set of parents then Esme and Carlisle. I was going to have to make sure I told them that the next time I saw them. They'd saved us from the hell Rose and Jasper had gone threw, never staying in one place long enough to make friends. Never having a real place to call home.

Then her story shifted tenor. Jasper and Rose had finally hit their eighteenth birthday and they ran without ever looking back. It should have been a good thing, a turning point in their lives when things started to go right. With their new found freedom her story took a dark twist that I never in a million years would have guessed.

_Royce King_. The name tasted like dirt on my tongue.

He'd hurt her when she had trusted him. I'd find him and kill him. I had to bite back a very animalistic sound when she skipped over the actually attack. I wasn't sure I wanted to know all of the details, but my imagination was doing a damn good job of picturing it even without her help on the smaller details. I could see Rose in my head, scared and violated, young and in way over her head. I tightened my hold on her fingers and she glanced up at me and I had to bite my tongue again at the tears she fought to keep from falling. I wasn't sure what she saw in my face but she kept her eyes on me while she continued.

I wouldn't get a chance to kill Royce, Jasper already had. Good, I was glad the bastard was dead, he disserved it. Her story also explained some of the odd things I noticed about Jasper, but I couldn't really focus on him. I'd never be able to thank Jasper enough for what he'd done. She mentioned the scare that Jasper was so carful to keep hidden and their trip to the hospital. I was practically seeing red. I'd never been this mad before; this scared for one person I cared about. I'd almost lost her and I hadn't even known her at the time. Why did the idea of losing her hurt so badly?

**Pov- Jasper**

"Jasper?"

I should really check my E-mail more often, this is kind of sad.

"Earth to Jazzy."

Hun? My head snapped up at the sound of Alice's voice and I found her kneeling at the end of my bed holding up two movies. "Did you say something?" I asked, feeling like a jerk. I had my laptop resting on my legs and my back against the headboard while I checked my E-mails. I had four from a buddy of mine back south named Peter and another one from an old girlfriend, now just a friend, named Maria. Two more popped up and I frowned at the screen. I'd fallen behind in responding to them the last few days. With the little ebony angel at the end of my bed I couldn't imagine how that had happened. _Sarcasm, you got to love it._

"I asked what movie you wanted to watch tonight." Alice repeated holding up the two movies again. "Vanhelsing or Underworld?" She asked.

I glanced at them both not really caring which one we watched as long as she laid next to me while we watched it. "Which one do you want?" I offered.

She frowned. "I want you to pick tonight. I picked last night."

_And the night before that_. "Let's watch, Vanhelsing." I said smiling to myself at her mention of our increasingly numerous sleepover/movie nights. I hardly left her side except for dance practice anymore. She didn't seem to mind and I wasn't sure where else I'd rather be.

She nodded. "In the mood for vampire hunters hu?"

I watched as she put the movie in and turned back to the bed. "Nope," I said shutting my lap top with its unanswered mails and setting it on the bedside table. I'd get to it later, maybe. "I just like his hat."

She giggled, like I hoped she would, and flicked off the overhead light. I loved the sound of her laughter. "I like your hat more." She said grabbing the tan cowboy hat I had resting on my counter. I didn't get much of a chance to wear it here, but I was glad I'd brought it. It reminded me of home and as an added perk, Alice liked it.

I pushed the play button as she slid under the covers next to me and set the hat down on the bed. She leaned against my side as the movie started but personally I thought she was far more interesting. Alice glanced up at me and the corner of her lip quirked up when she caught me watching her.

"What are you staring at?" She asked, the corner of her mouth twitching as she tried not to smile.

I shrugged not hiding the smirk on my face. "Nothing."

"What were you looking at before?" She asked nodding to my computer.

I sunk farther into the bed. "E-mails from home."

"Friends watching you on the show?"

I nodded and pulled the laptop back onto my legs in front of us. I flipped it open and pulled up a file for pictures. There were only about a dozen of them but I had one of every person who was important to me. I pointed to one of my favorites.

"That's my friend Peter." I told her pointing him out in the photo. The picture was two years old, but we all still looked the same. Rose's hair was longer now.

Peter had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. He and a few of our other friends had been over at the small house Rose and I shared for a barbeque on the fourth of July. "I met him shortly after Rose and I moved to Austen. We went to school together."

"Who are they?" She asked pointing to the two young women sitting with Rose near the fire pit besides Peter and I.

"The girl with black hair is named Vera. She's one of Rose's friends." The only one she'd kept in contact with after the attack. I liked Vera; she'd gotten Rose interested in dancing and probably saved her sanity. Her finding a outlet through dance had been the turning point after Royce.

I pointed out the other girl. The second girl was shorter, her brown hair and eyes complemented her tan skin tone. "The other is named Maria. She transferred in as a junior my senior year of college from Mexico. She taught me how to speak Spanish and an excellent salsa recipe that's great on corn chips."

Alice glanced at the screen and then up at me, her intelligent eyes calculating something that I hadn't said yet.

"Old flame?" She guessed.

I nodded. "Very old, we only dated for about eight months before the end of the school year. Things got to hard when she went back to finish her masters and I started working full time. I was spending so much of my time watching over Rose, this was shortly after her attack, and we decided to end it. We're still friends, but we both know nothings going to happen between us."

She smirked at me. "I'm glad to hear that." She kissed my cheek. "I thought I might have some competition."

I laughed then, amazed at how comfortable I could be with Alice even though we'd only known each other a short time. I caught her cheek when she pulled away and she leaned her head into my hand. Her dark hair fell over her eyes and I hesitated for just a moment to see if she would pull away from me. She didn't, she never pulled away from me.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked, earning a smile from me.

I ran my finger over her cheek, "I'm not sure anymore. You never do what I expect you too."

This time she smiled. "Well then I hope you like surprises," She said leaning back to grab my hat and put it on her head. The tan leather looked great on her black spikes. "Because I learned not to wait for the things I want a long time ago."

Then her lips were on mine. This little angel of a woman had changed my life so far in such a short time. I knew I'd never get enough of her. Enough of her voice, of her smell, of her sweet taste. I was absolutely lost and I never wanted to be found. I'd stay lost in Alice as long as she'd let me.

She pulled back an inch and blew her bangs out of her eyes. She used one hand to fix my hat on her head. "The cowboy is speechless."

I didn't need words. I never did with her. She always seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. At some point during our kiss she'd moved so she was sitting on my lap and my laptop was sitting on the floor. I wasn't going to get to those E-mails tonight. I put my back to the headboard and pulled her closer to me so I could kiss her again. The hat was in my way so I took it from her head and set it on the bed behind her.

Her tinny fingers played with the curls at the back of my neck and I shivered as they ran across my shoulders. She broke the kiss first, pulling back an inch to breathe, and I moved to kiss the bottom of her jaw, letting my lips slowly work their way to her ear and loving her soft skin. "I think I love you Alice." I said softly against her ear and she stiffened in my lap her soft intake of breath sounded loud in the quiet room.

I pulled back, afraid that I might have pushed her to fast. She was watching me with those intelligent eyes, calculating more things that I hadn't said yet; things that couldn't be put into words. I didn't know how to tell her what I felt for her.

I opened my mouth to tell her I was sorry, and that I could move slower, but she didn't give me a chance to speak. She pulled one hand out of my hair to lay a small finger over my lips and silence my words.

"I know." She said, her eyes almost sparkling in the light from our forgotten movie. People were screaming as vampires ravaged their city and an angle was sitting in my lap telling me she'd already known I was in love with her. "I think I love you too Jasper."

I wanted to change my first words. I knew I loved her. I'd never felt like this with another woman and I never would. It had to be her.

* * *

~Darkrose  
I'm sorry this took so long to get up. I could make a lot of excuses but I'm glad I waited. The first version of this chapter sucked big time and this one is so much better. I hope you like it as much as I do and I promise I'll try to get the next chapter up faster. This is my favorite Chapter!


	40. The day before

This chapter was written to "Life after You" by: Daughtry which is a very beautiful song, if you haven't heard it yet I suggest looking it up somewhere on line.

Carly Traveler- I agree, working on this story is how I take out my SYTYCD withdrawls. I hope you like these next chapters.  
Chapter 40: Night Before

* * *

Pov- Bella  
"This is crazy." I said sitting down hard and letting my plate drop on the table in front of me. Edward and I were the last to arrive in the lounge so everyone else was already sitting down with their plates loaded with today's lunch choices and enjoying their food.

It was12:18, Monday afternoon and we only had one day left to get our dances down in time for the judging round. We'd gone threw the drama of costume fitting Saturday morning and done our weekly interviews; this time being asked questions about what winning the competition would mean for us and individual goals for our dance related futures.

Edward was feeling confident on the Waltz, because he had background experience with Waltz like numbers, and I was feeling more confident in the contemporary number with Sonya. I'd spent the last two and a half day's building up the perfect mindset of someone facing depression and was pretty sure I had it down. All I had to do was think about dead puppies or the story Rosalie had told me. I knew I was to chicken to ever actually commit suicide, but if I ever felt like getting depressed I was now an expert.

Right now I was wearing a dirty t-shirt over the white dress I'd be wearing for the contemporary number, because I hadn't felt like changing after our morning work with Sonya, but Max would skin me alive if I spilt food on it.

"You look like you could use a nap." Emmett pointed out passing me a pitcher of water when he noticed it was out of my reach.

"I'm fine." I said, taking the water. "Thanks"

"This weeks been pretty brutal on everyone I think." Rosalie added as she poked at her food. A few people nodded along.

"What numbers did you get this week?" Emmett asked turning his attention on Rose and Ben. Ben's face lit up at the question and he turned into our conversation.

"We got Broadway, were doing a routine to "Sing'in in the Rain"."

"And the other one's a Tango piece." Rose said quickly cutting Ben off before he could start ranting about the different actor's who'd been in the play. "It's a good piece but I'm pretty sure you and Leah hold the market on Tango numbers this season."

Emmett fidgeted in his seat. "I'm sure you'll do great in a tango number."

Rose blushed, hiding it by bending over her plate to take a bite of food. "Thanks."

After lunch Edward and I made our way upstairs so we could change into our normal cloths and get our things ready for the dress rehearsal.

I crowded into the girls dressing room and changed back into my jeans and a clean t-shirt. I made sure both of my dresses as well as shoes were in my box before leaving it with Jason. I wasn't sure how they did it, but Max's team of costume helper ninja's always managed to beat us to the studio and get everything set up behind our backs. This show couldn't run with their work.

Leo was waiting by the front doors, along with another one of the body guards, to make sure everyone got on the bus ok and as soon as Erik had climbed on board the doors swung shut and we were off, weaving threw the midday Las Vegas traffic to get to the show studio we would be performing on tomorrow night.

We didn't have any trouble getting in the building and once we were on stage a crew man listed off the order we would be going on so we would know when to look for our cues. Edward and I had drawn position number two. We'd be going second and then again for the ninth dance after all of the pairs had done their first number. Tomorrow's show was going to have to move really fast to get all fourteen dances in the allotted two hours. As long as Cat didn't talk too much I was sure we'd be ok with time.

Everyone went backstage to change into their first set of costumes. Edward and I would be opening with the Viennese Waltz. Hunter and Sonya had gotten together with us on Sunday to discus which number we thought should go first. The Waltz had better lifts, but we wanted the powerful emotion in the contemporary number to be the last thing America felt when they saw us dance.

I changed into a skin colored sports bra and a pair of white shorts that would serve as the under cloths for both of my costumes this week. The dress for the contemporary number was short, just barely covering the tops of my thighs, but with the shorts on under it didn't matter, the material was lose and the silvery gray color added to the dark emotions my character was fighting with.

The dress for the Waltz was lighter, a soft creamy white dress that tied around my waist with a silk bow and fell almost to the floor even in my higher shoes. It was simple and elegant and went well with the white dress shirt Edward was in. Edward had a cream scarf wrapped around his waist in place of a belt with his black dress pants to match my dress and Jason had elected to leave both of our hair down and natural for the dance.

"Close your eye's please Bella."

I closed my eyes and held still for Jason as his brushed white eye shadow over my eyes and foundation across my checks. Edward got off easy with nothing more then eye liner for his bottom lids. Jason was determined to force him into some kind of make-up every week, since it was so clear that Edward didn't like it. I told him it made his eyes pop. Edward said it made him feel gay, and Jason joked about Edward needing to get in touch with his inner rainbow pride but he was sorry because he already had a boy friend so Edward was going to have to find another man to hit on. Jason recommended Edward go after Jasper because he had a nice ass. I laughed so hard I couldn't breath and Edward turned redder then I ever had.

"I'm not gay." He argued.

Jason shrugged and slipped the lid back on the eye liner. "I am. My work here is done, you two look wonderful. I'm amazing." The light in our dressing room flashed and the small stage monitor flicked on.

"You two had better get out there so you can see the others. Good luck."

"You are amazing." I agreed glancing at our reflections in the mirror. Jason could make me look great in two minutes and I still wasn't sure which container was blush and which one was eye shadow. "Thanks Jason."

Once everyone was ready the house lights dimed down and the lights on stage turned red and purple for Alice and Jake who were opening tomorrow's show with a fast passed salsa number. Alice buzzed around the stage in a purple and red dress and I was impressed with how well Jake handled their size difference. I'd always thought Jake was a good dancer but he was really starting to prove himself a viable contender in this competition. As the song came to an end Edward and I moved to the side of the stage and waited for them to clear the camera zone before hurrying into place.

Edward moved to the front of the stage sitting with his feet on the front stairs and his elbows on his knees as he held his head in his hands. I stopped a few yards behind him on the back half of the stage, making sure that the center of attention would be on him. The lights around us dimed to soft blues and whites, a spot light on Edward, as the opening of our song played around the room. I took a deep breath and started counting, keeping my moves slow while Edward fidgeted with his jacket up front.

"_Ten miles from town and I just broke down.  
__Spittin' out smoke on the side of the road.  
__I'm out here alone, just tryin' to get home.  
__To tell you I was wrong but you already know.  
__Believe me I won't stop at nothin'  
__To see you so I've started runnin."_

He spun around as I raced to him and braced his hands on my waist as I jumped. The shoes mad all the difference for this first jump and my knees landed right in the middle of Edward's chest. He kept his balance and grabbed my but so I wouldn't fall spinning us around once before letting me fall to my toes.

"_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter.  
As long as I'm laughin' with you.  
I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after,  
After the life we've been through.  
'Cause I know there's no life after you_."

I locked the fingers of my good hand in Edward's as we went through the second set of twists and steps, always connected by our fingers. I caught sight of some of the other dancers standing at the front of the stage so they could watch and Rose waved at me.

"_Last time we talked, the night that I walked.  
Burns like an iron in the back of my mind.  
I must've been high, to say that you and I,  
Weren't meant to be and just wastin' my time.  
Oh, why did I ever doubt you?  
You know I would die here without you_."

I pulled away from Edward and we did a set of synchronized steps on opposite sides of the front of the stage. As I turned back to face him Edward did a back flip and met me center stage. I kept my focuses on my own feet, counting out the moves in my head and trying to keep from mixing our two dances together like I had in rehearsal.

"_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter,  
As long as I'm laughin' with you.  
I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after,  
After the life we've been through.  
'Cause I know there's no life after you_."

I spun on my toes and Edward took my hands while my back was to him holding them out to my sides. I stepped back so I was lined up with his chest while we danced and tensed my core when he wrapped his arms around my waist. He braced his feet at the same time I bent my knees before he lifted me up to flip over his shoulder. I locked my legs around his waist as he spun so we were standing sideways, with the crowd on our left, before leaning back and setting my hands on the stage. I kicked off at the same time he bent over to flip forward. We landed at the same time, to a small set of cheers from our friends, and I jumped forward for the last set of steps.

"_You and I, right or wrong, there's no other one,  
After this time I spent alone.  
Hard to believe that a man with sight could be so blind.  
Thinkin' 'bout the better times, must've been outta my mind.  
So I'm runnin' back to tell you,"_

Edward's arms around my waist, my arms around his neck we moved slowly together, letting our feet lead us back across the stage to the music. Edward smelt good and I let one of my hands rise up so my fingers could touch the hair at the base of his neck. He shivered under my fingers and I bit back a giggle as the song entered into its last chorus. I hope anyone who saw that thought it was part of the dance.

"_All that I'm after is a life full of laughter.  
Without you God knows what I'd do.  
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter;  
As long as I'm laughin' with you.  
I'm thinkin' 'bout all that still matters is love ever after,  
After the life we've been through, cuz.  
I know there's no life after you."_

The song ended with us walking away from the audience, Edward's arm around my waist as I leaned into his side, and the lights faded to black. Our friends clapped and we took a quick second to bow before rushing off stage right and letting the next group do their practice run.

"That was great I think." Edward said a little breathless as we maneuvered our way back to our dressing room to chance for the next run through.

I nodded along hopping over a cord taped to the floor that I'd tripped over last week. If I trip over something enough times, eventually I learn that it's there. See she can be taught. "I think so too, lets hope it goes that well tomorrow night."

"I think we've got it down."

Jason had our next set of costumes waiting for us on our chairs and he clapped as we slipped into the little nook that was our changing room. "That was really good you guys."

He tossed us water bottles and I took mine back behind the changing curtain with me. "Thanks Jason, how did the lifts look?"

I hung my dress over the railing and Jason pulled it down from the other side wile I slipped into the next one.

"Strong, the assisted lift at the beginning was the best. Try to keep your face even when Edward flips you over his shoulder. You made a funny face."

I nodded to myself and held my dress to my chest as I slipped out of the changing room. "I didn't notice, thanks. Can you zip me up?"

Jason zipped the back of the dress and sat me down to brush out my hair. I kicked off my heels and Jason frowned at me before picking them up and setting them nicely on the counter. Edward slipped out from behind his changing curtain in the costume Sonya had designed for our depression dance.

Edward was playing the part of my "Guardian angel" while my character contemplated committing suicide. The costume was split down the sides, the front half was white. When I was winning the battle of depression Edward would dance with the white side facing the crowed. The back was black. When Edward had his back to me and the audience I was losing. It was kind of a lot to comprehend in one dance, but I was hoping the audience would like it.

"How you feeling Bella?" Edward asked as he set his own shoes on the counter by my heels. Jason told me to close my eyes so he could change the white eye shadow into black.

"I'm good, you ready?"

"You're supposed to be depressed; your about to go on stage and die."

I nodded and Jason made an annoyed noise when I messed him up.

"Sorry." I said holding still. "I'll get depressed right before we go on."

"I'm sorry I'm not a better angel." He joked.

I opened one eye to glance at him and found his back to me. His butt looked nice in the black but his reflection in the mirror was dressed in white. With his strong green eye and that reddish-brown hair in its usual disarray I thought he looked like an angel.

Once we were both given the nod of approval by Jason we slipped out a side door to watch the others before our next dance. We slid into seats in the second row next to Alice and Jake who had already changed into their next set of outfits.

Rosalie and Ben were on stage doing a Broadway number to "Singin' in the Rain" they did a great job but I could tell Rose was a little uncomfortable with the style. Ben was in his element and his confidence made it easier for Rose to find her grove and after three weeks, since Rose had lost Demetri, they were really starting to make a good pair. The lights on the stage were blue and a cover over one of them made it look like it was raining.

When they were done they bowed quick to the audience and rushed off stage as Tanya and James walked on the other side. I tried the keep the frown off my face and judge my opinion of their dance without letting my personal feelings get in the way, but it was hard. They did a great job and from their big smiles they knew it too. Damn it.

The rest of the night passed quickly. Edward and I made it through our second dance without any problems. Leah and Emmett had to do their second dance twice when the guys up in the top box were having trouble getting the lights right. I personally thought our biggest competition this week was going to come from Tanya and James or Alice and Jake. Rose was struggling with the Broadway and Erik had dropped Angela on one of their lifts in their second number. She was fine, but if they did that tomorrow the grudges would knock them for it.

I helped Jason hang up my second dress and washed my face off in our sink to get ride of the makeup. We were herded back out to the bus a little after seven and got back to the studio in time for a late diner. After a round of peanut butter and jelly with chocolate milk Emmett forced everyone to stay in the lounge for what he called "dancer bonding time".

We played Poker. Alice kicked ass all night, and I spent half my time working on my own hand while explaining to Erik what the different kinds of hands were and which one's had the highest point values.

"Yes a flush beats two of a kind."

"Jack's aren't wild this round."

"Whose deal is it supposed to be?"

"Four Ace's" Alice said laying down her hand after nearly two and a half hours of cards and soda. "Suck it Bitch's."

I groaned along with everyone who was left in and set down my meeker pair of loser fives. I was convinced that, even though she was wearing a tank top, Alice had aces hidden up her sleeves. Our game had turned from "Poker" to "Let's all just hand Alice money".

"I'm out you guys." I said tossing my cards in and eating my last pretzel chip.

Jake picked up the card's and started dealing for the next round. I slipped out of the lounge and hesitated when the door opened up again as I was reaching for the handle to the stairs. Rose slipped out into the hallway and jogged to catch up with me.

"I'm with you Bella, Alice rigged the cards."

I nodded and tugged the door open so we could head upstairs. "Its kind of scary how good she is at that game."

Rose agreed. "I gave up being surprised by things that Alice does. As long as she keeps Jasper happy she can do whatever she wants."

"Do you know how they're getting along? Has Jasper talked about her to you?"

She shrugged. "We actually haven't spoken to much these past few days. He's been glued to Alice's side constantly. I think he loves her Bella. I've never seen him like this before."

I opened the door to the sixth floor and followed Rose inside. "I noticed that they've been spending a lot of time together. It's cute." I didn't mention our group sleepover.

Rose leaned against the wall next to my door as we could talk a bit more. "How are you and Edward getting along?" She asked. "Emmett mentioned that Edward hasn't been in his room the past few nights."

I blushed, Emmett was supposed to keep his mouth shut. I didn't really care if Rose knew, but who else had he told? How had he known Edward wasn't in his room, no one ever caught him coming down? Why were Rose and Emmett talking about me and Edward behind our backs?

I quelled the momentary rush of panic when Rosalie started giggling and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Emmett told me you guys are trying to keep your little sleepovers a secret. I won't tell. He didn't mean to tell me but I already knew you two were hot for each other."

I blushed again. "I am not hot for Edward."

"Bull." She said. "You smile more around him and he spends at much time zipped to your side as Jasper does to Alice. I know you like him and I didn't ask about what you two were _doing_ at night, just how it was going."

I blushed harder. "We're not _doing_ anything."

She giggled at me. "You're not doing anything, yet."

"Well what about Emmett?" I shot back, desperately trying to turn the conversation away from me.

Rose stopped giggling and I noticed that her hands started playing with the bottom of her shirt. Now I felt bad. I knew that she liked Emmett but that she'd been having trouble getting closer to him. I was so insensitive, way to go Bella.

I opened my mouth to apologies when she smiled at me. My apology turned into a question. "What?"

She let go of her shirt and folded her hands together in front of her. "I told him."

"You did, no way." She'd finally told him about Royce? "What did he say?"

She shied and tucked a strand of her hair behind her head. "He was great Bella. You guys have all been so nice. He didn't seem to care at all."

"Were your friends Rose, we care about you. I told you he'd understand.

She nodded. "I thought I had friends before the attack Bella; but nearly everone I was close to dumped me the same day Royce died. Some of them even blamed me for his death. I guess in a way it was my fault but I'm not sorry it happened" She said smiling at me. "You guys are just really good people. Jasper and I were lucky to find you guys."

The door to the stairs opened and we both jumped. Alice walked into the hallway munching out of her bang of winnings; she must have had "two hundred dollars" worth of pretzels in that bag. I was never playing cards with her again.

She paused when her eyes landed on us, catching the awkward silence he entrance had caused.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She asked.

The door closed behind her and it didn't look like anyone else was coming up stairs. I glanced at Rose waiting for her to tell Alice what she's told me. It wasn't my place to say anything. Rose caught my questioning look and turned to Alice.

"I told Emmett."

Alice slid closer to us and offered us both pretzels. "What did he say?"

"Not much really." She said taking a pretzel and nibbling on the end of it. "He said he was sorry and that he was glad Jasper had killed him, but disappointed that he couldn't do it himself. He seemed almost angry that he haddn't been there to stop it."

Alice beamed. "I told you he'd understand."

I chuckled. "That was what I said when she told me."

"You guys want to watch a movie in my room tonight?" Rose asked sticking the rest of her pretzel in her mouth. "I think we could all use a girls night."

I nodded. "Sure, I need to shower quick."

"Me too" Alice said, "How about we met in your room in an hour?"

Rose nodded. "Alright, I should throw a load of clothes in the wash anyway quick."

"I've got the perfect movie." Alice said zipping across the hall and opening her room. "I'll see you in an hour.

Rose disappeared in her own room and I slid into my shower as quickly as I could. I washed raised and repeated twice to get rid of all of the day's sweat and grim before slipping into my shorts and tank-top pajamas combo. I pulled a sweater on over my tank since I wasn't wearing a bra and slid on my slippers so I could run upstairs quick.

I knocked on Edward's door and found him wearing his pajama pants with a pillow under his arm. That was wearied he didn't usually bring a pillow to my room. He used mine, I used him.

"Alice already told me about your girl's only night." He said in explanation when I opened my mouth to tell him not to come down to night.

I nodded, that explained it. "Alrighty then, I wasn't sure if you knew or not."

He nodded and grabbed a blanket off his bed along with his slippers. "I'm watching a movie with Emmett tonight."

I pecked him on the cheek and told him I'd come up tomorrow night, instead of him sneaking down to be with me, before skipping back downstairs. I piled my pillows and blankets up together and dragged them down the hall to Rose's room. Alice yanked the door open before I could finish knocking and helped me pile everything into the giant nest on the floor. She and Rose had moved Rose's bed to the other end of the small room so we could all lie on the floor together.

Alice pulled a movie out and slid it into the player. "I tried to watch this movie a few nights ago." She said smiling to herself. "But, I got a bit distracted so I missed most of it."

I smacked my pillow to fluff it up and passed on the popcorn Rose was holding out to me. If I ate anything else tonight I was going to explode. Vanhelsing's main menu popped up and Rose and I both made noises of agreement. This was a good movie

Rose turned on her bed side lamp when Alice got the overhead lights and when she sat down Rose pulled her pillow onto her lap and said. "Ok, girl's night means boy talk; spill about my brother."

Alice's face when blank, it was hard to tell in the shadows, but I think she was blushing. Looks like Alice wasn't going to get to watch this movie again. I giggled looking forward to the grilling Alice was about to get, but fearful for what they would ask me when it was my turn to "talk boys".

* * *

~Darkrose

Woohoo; two chapters together! I'm trying to make up for making you guys wait so long for me to update. I'm sorry for that, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I've got big plans for the rest of this round and I can' wait to reach the fateful top ten when the couples all get split up.

...Has everyone seen the trailers for Eclips? They look good, I can't wait.


	41. Top Fourteen

This chapter is dedicated to my new beta, XxEddiexX. I love you girl! And a big thank you to all of my readers. Your support is one of the main reasons I write this story.

Chapter 41: Top Fourteen

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Pov: Edward

"Edward, would you wake Jasper up?" Emmett asked from the corner of his room where he was digging clean clothes out of his bag.

"Yeah"

"I'm up," Came a muffled voice from the lump under the quilt that was Jasper.

"You don't look very up." Emmett commented yanking a clean shirt over his head and running his hands over his short hair to fix.

"What time is it?" Jaspers, mouth less voice asked.

I glanced at Emmett's bedside clock. "6:30."

"Five more minutes." Jasper asked and the blankets around his head pulled tighter around himself as he rolled away from me.

Emmett pulled out of his closet in a clean pair of pants and made his way over to Jaspers sleeping lump. He grabbed a pillow off the floor and lifted up above his head as he stood over Jasper.

"No more five minutes." He said bringing the pillow down on Jasper side.

There was a deep thump and Jasper growled something from under the quilt that sounded like Spanish.

"Up up time Jasper." Emmett said in a condescending tone someone might use on a small child before smacking him with the pillow again. "If you can admit to Alice that you love her you can get up and go get dressed. At the very least you need to get out of my room so I can go down to breakfast. Go sleep in the hall."

Jasper's head appeared out of the end of the blanket and his hand shot out after it to catch the pillow Emmett was swinging to hit him with a third time. "Stop that." He demanded, his hair still snarled and his eyes heavy with a need for more sleep. "I'm up, you happy?"

"Peachy, thank you." Emmett said tossing the pillow to his bed. "Now, Get out."

I shook my head at them both and started gathering my pillows together. I still couldn't believe that Jasper had told Alice he loved her. We'd put a movie in last night, but about halfway through Emmett had started asking me about Bella. I hadn't minded since Jasper already knew we were sleeping together. We'd spent almost an hour talking about them. Alice, Rose and Bella were even closer then Emmett and I had become with Jasper.

Jasper hadn't said much, but he did tell Alice that he loved her. It was obvious he did. I couldn't believe he already knew it. He said he'd known the moment he let her in. I was happy for him, Jasper was still really quiet in general, that was just who he was, but with Alice he seemed happy. Emmett had mentioned having a good chat with Rose. I didn't really understand, but Jasper must have because he threatened Emmett's ability to reproduce if he hurt his sister.

All in all it had been an interesting night. I'd seen an emotional side to Emmett I hadn't known existed and witnessed a revelation in Jaspers life. I wondered if the girls talked about us as much as we talked about them. Probably, girls did things like that right? Talk about boys.

I dragged my things down the hall and dumped them on my bed before getting dressed. I met Jasper in the hall and we walked downstairs together to get breakfast. Emmett was already sitting with the girls in the lounge by the time we got down their and by Jasper's narrowed eyes I wasn't the only one who noticed that Rose and Emmett were sitting closer together then they usually did. Rose had her legs draped across his with her breakfast plate in her lap.

I grabbed my usual breakfast and a glass of milk before taking the open seat next to Bella. Someone had opened all of the windows in the lounge and a cool breeze was blowing in off the city. Cards and pretzels were still on the floor fro our game last night. Once Alice left us, the game had closed down pretty fast. She'd taken most of the fake food money with her so there wasn't much left to play with.

Jasper and I slid in-between Alice and Bella with our food. Alice hoped down two chairs to let us in without missing a beat in her story as she recounted part of the girls movie night to Emmett.

"-so I still haven't gotten a chance to see all of Vanhelsing yet." She said shooting a fake frown at Jasper who had started chuckling at her.

"How many movies did you bring Alice?" Bella asked sipping at her orange juice. "It seems like we watch a new one every night."

"We don't watch movies every night." Alice said shrugging. "I brought most of my collection along. All of my movies are in that blue bag at the end of my bed."

"That bag's gigantic." Rose said.

Alice shrugged again. "I was hoping I'd be here for awhile; and we've put those movies to good use. What else are we supposed to do at night?"

Emmett and Rosalie choked on their drinks simultaneously and Bella put a hand over her mouth to hide the face that she was laughing too. Alice's face went blank as she realized the double meaning in her words, then she tossed her fork at Emmett.

"That's not what I meant." She said putting her hands on her little hips. "Get your minds out of the gutter."

At this point Emmett was completely lost and I was biting the inside of my cheek to keep my face blank. Rosalie set down her plate and leaned forward so her elbows were on the table and her chin was in her hands. "Alice, now that you've put your foot in your mouth, I feel it necessary to ask what your intentions are with my brother."

The inter table lost it. Alice smirked up at us threw her eyelashes and tapped her fingertips together like a mob boss from one of her movies. "I intend to seduce him with my girlish charms and rob him of his innocence." She said with a straight face before sticking a piece of muffin in her mouth and smirking at Jasper who'd gone still.

Emmett started wolf whistling and Jasper nearly blushed. Bella was holding onto my arm for support as we both tried to keep from falling out of our chairs. The rest of the dancers were staring at our table with confused looks which we ignored as best we could.

The door to the lounge swung open and we all fell silent as Cat walked in with her own personal camera crew.

"Well good morning everyone." She said waving one hand to encompass the entire room. "I'm here to go over today's schedule."

Today's schedule ended up being exactly like every other show day schedule. We would get the morning to work by ourselves or with our partners. We'd head over to the studio and met with our costume helpers, then have lunch followed by some free time before the show at the studio, then onto the dance floor where we'd all tell each other to break a leg and partially mean it, literally.

Everyone finished eating breakfast and I met Bella in a studio on the fifth floor. Emmett and Rosalie were working individually in the room across the hall from us and Erik and Angela were working one door down. Everyone else had headed to take a room on the third floor or head back up to their bed rooms.

**Pov- Bella**

"That was great Bella. You've really got that opener down."

I dropped to my knees and laid down on the floor of our studio. "Thanks. What time is it?"

We'd been working hard all morning trying to make sure both of our dancers were as good as we could possible make them before the show started. I whipped the sweat from my forehead and worked on slowing my breathing down.

"About ten thirty."

I nodded as best I could from the floor. "I think I'm going to run upstairs and take a shower quick."

Edward offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet. "Good idea, we don't want to over work before the show."

"Do you want to run through the waltz again?"

He shook his head. "No, it's not going to get any better in one most rep. I think we'll be just fine for today. Are you ready?"

I knocked on the wooden door frame as we stepped out into the hallway to counter any bad luck and rubbed at my sore shoulder. "I'm as ready as I think one can be, knowing that I'm going to die later tonight on stage in front of the whole country."

Edward held the door to the stairs open and followed me up. "Does your mom know your going to die tonight?" He asked.

I shook my head, stopping at the door to the sixth floor. "Nope, I didn't know how to tell her; so I decided for the easy road of simple not saying anything at all. She and Summer are going to be at the show tonight and they'll see it then. I just hope she doesn't freak out to bad."

We found the others gathered on the sidewalk out front near the bus and followed them on when the camera guys were ready to go. I had the way to the studio memorized now and had fun looking at some of the smaller shops and the people in the city. We stopped at a red light and a little girl in the van next to us waved. I wasn't sure if she could see me through the dark tint of the windows, but I waved back.

As always, the crew ninja's were waiting when we pulled up and Jason already had our costumes hanging up and ready. He ran some soft curls through my hair so he wouldn't have to do it later and then Edward and I checked with the stage manager to make sure we knew all of our cues. Once all of the stage drama was settled and everything was ready for tonight we headed up stairs to the open lounge were we would eat lunch.

Sub sandwiches, potato salad, fresh rolls, iced tea and water; the lunch of champions. It worked and tasted wonderful. I didn't like to eat a lot in the few hours before the show so I picked at my sandwich and ended up stealing a bag of chips from the table that I could munch on while Edward and I worked out the last few things we needed to smooth out.

After an hour of slow pasted work our small work room was overheating and we opened a window to let in the breeze. We turned off our dance songs and turned on the radio, sitting together with our backs to the wall mirror while we munched on the chips.

"You want to head down early and see if we can find your mom before the show?" Edward asked whipping his hands together to clear away the chip crumbs.

I licked the salt from my finger and nodded pushing myself to my feet. "If we can go out there you bet."

We dropped off the last of the chips in the main room to get cleaned up and then snuck down stairs acting like we were supposed to be there. No one stopped us until we grabbed the handle that would lead us to the auditorium.

"Bella, Edward, where are you going?"

Cat Deeley was walking towards us being followed by a man trying to work on her hair.

"I just wanted to see if I could find my mom before we went on." I explained, hopping she wouldn't send us back up stairs.

She nodded, like she'd already known that. "They're sitting in the family reserved seats. I'll have someone bring them down here so you don't get mobbed."

She sent a camera man out to get my group and told us we could go out as long as we stayed near the door where it was roped off from the general addition seats. We promised to be good and talk to no one other then my mom and Summer. She posed a guard at the door to make sure no one bothered us and then went back to finish getting ready.

"Bella!"

I spun and opened my arms at the sound of my best friend, and then Summer tackled me. Edward caught us both before we could fall over and then another pair of arms grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. "Bella, it's so good to see you, Oh surprise! I bet you didn't know I was coming to see you." The second voice yelled in my ear while jumping up and down.

"Erika?" Oh my gosh, what was she doing here?

Erika held me at arms length and looked me over. "Of course it's me, who else could walk off a plane and look this good." I laughed because I couldn't help myself and she did look good. Erika's hair was more red then brown and piled on top of her head in elegant curls. Her dance toned legs stuck out of the bottom of a short, yellow dress and she spun in place quick so I could see the whole thing.

"What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming."

Erika rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't know, that's why I said surprise. It was your mom's idea." Her eyes lifted to look over my shoulder. "Hello." She said as her eyes locked on what could only be Edward. "Bella, why didn't you mention that you brought your side arm with you?" Erika stepped around me and held out her hand to great him. "Hi I'm Erika, you need to come work for me."

"Edward this is the woman who owns Samba Sun." I elaborated so he wouldn't seem so confused. "Erika this is my dance partner Edward. You've already met Summer and my Mo-"

"Bella, stop talking and give me a hug."

My mom grabbed my arm and pulled me to her. "Hi baby girl it's so good to see you again, how's the show going, you look wonderful."

I hugged her back, glad to see her. "It's so good to see you Mom."

"You too baby, I've missed you at home."

I blinked hard a few time so she wouldn't make me cry. Jason would kill me if my face was all blotchy and my eyes bloodshot and puffy. "I haven't been gone that long."

"It's been almost a month and you're going to be gone so much longer. I hope you make it home for your birthday."

"The shows not that long Mom." My birthday was in September we had months.

"I know, but I still miss you. All of your friends do, when Erika heard we were coming to see you again she asked if she could join us. Phil's been real busy with work lately so I let her have his ticket. He wishes you good luck by the way and he's sorry he couldn't be here."

Well that explained it. I liked Phil, he was a good guy and good for my mom; we just didn't know each other to well yet. Mom and I rejoined the others. Summer and Erika had both taken to grilling Edward so I could have a moment with my mom.

"Can you at least tell us what style your doing?" Summer was asking.

"I just want to know who your choreographer is this week." Erika added.

That's right, I forgot they didn't know we were doing two dances yet. Edward shot me a desperate look, asking what he could tell them. I was glad he'd stayed silent. I pushed past Erika and Summer so I could stand between them and him.

"All of your questions will be answered when were on stage."

"I can't believe this. You've hardly talked to me all week and know you won't tell me anything." Summer huffed.

I shrugged apologetically. "I didn't have a lot of free time this week. I'm sorry."

"I know, I know." She said, I could tell she wasn't really mad. "Can you at least tell me what color your dress is, or are you not wearing a dress this week?"

Edward leaned forward with his arms around my waist so he could talk over my shoulder. "Throw them a bone Bella, they came all this way to see you."

I rolled my eyes and elbowed him, "Fine, Edward's wearing white."

Edward and my mom chuckled, Erika and Summer frowned at me. I knew they weren't really mad but they were frustrated with me. I felt confident with Edward at my back and all of the cameras watching us.

"Bella, Edward." Jason poked his head out from back stage and waved us to come with him. "It's time to start getting ready."

I nodded. "We'll be right there." I gave my mom a hug. "We'll come see you after the show."

My mom gave Edward a hug and they all wished us luck. "Bella," Edward said as he stepped back to my side. "You forgot to mention that I'm only wearing white in the first dance."

I chuckled again, seeing where he was going with this. Summer and Erika looked shell shocked. I just smiled at them.

"You're doing more then one?" Summer asked.

I ignored her and turned back to Edward. "There's white in both your costumes."

He nodded, leading me away towards Jason, who was holding the backstage door open for us. "True."

"Bella, this is a cruel game you play." Erika called after us.

The door to the stage swung shut behind us and Jason lead us over to our dressing room so he could get us ready for the show. Because we were going second, and wouldn't have time to change, we would both be doing the opening number in our costumes for the Viennese Waltz.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Jason asked as he pinned a couple of my curls up.

I nodded. "As ready as we can be. I think we'll be just fine as long as we don't mix our two dances together."

"You can only do your best." He said, sounding like a fortune cookie. "If you have fun and do your best they you win no matter what."

"You're sounding very philosophical today." I pointed out.

He shrugged and grabbed some eye shadow off the counter. "Were getting down to the top ten soon, who knows when any of you will go home, eyes closed please."

I closed my eyes and tried to relax my shoulders, getting tense would only make me mess up on stage, or make me sore tonight.

"Bella won't go home tonight." Edward said, followed by the swish of his changing room curtain as he came back into the room. "I see her in the top four, at least."

I rolled my eyes behind my closed lids, of course Edward would never say he'd want me to go home. I thought I was doing fine in the competition so far, but did I see myself in the top four? Not yet I didn't. The competition was too good.

"Right now I'm focusing on making it to the top ten."

"Little goals first, take the whole prize later." Jason added, "You can open your eyes now."

I opened my eyes as Jason descended on Edward's hair. Edward was dressed in lose black dress pants and a white button up that matched my dress. The cream scarf, tied around his waist, matched the longer part of my layered skirt and tied our two costumes together.

It felt like we'd only been sitting down for a few minutes when our small warning light started flashing and we had to go line up with the others for the opening theme song. Alice and Jake were the only other two already in costume, everyone else was wearing, easy to strip off, clean practice clothes or solo dresses.

The lights in the house dimed and the audience broke into screams as the lights on stage flared up and the opening theme song started. Cat Deeley's voice sounded over the PA system, introducing the show and it's producers before announcing the dancers.

One by one she called our names and we each ran forward for our two point five seconds of "Look at me" time. Thanks to the long skirt on my Waltz dress I wasn't able to do one of the flips I'd learned. I settled for a couple of quick spins and a big smile. Erik and I bumped fists as he raced out after me and I moved to the girl's side to stand next to Rosalie.

Erik, comedic as ever, did a second of robot followed by an impressive moonwalk to his place on the boy's side. "These are your girls," Cat's voice called out as we marched forward and tried to get a bigger applause then the boys. "and here are your boys, America." The boys followed us forward and won the unspoken contest of getting a louder applause.

A male voice came over the loudspeaker saying, "and your host for the evening, Cat Deeley!" The audience clapped, while I spun with the other girls to strut across the stage and trade places with the boys. While we were switching sides Cat raced forward to take her own applause, walking out between out two groups and dismissing us to head back stage.

We all spun on our toes and stayed calm until we were past the, "The audience can still see you point" and then it was a mad dash to get in place. Alice and Jake had to run to the other side so they'd be ready after the first commercial break; everyone else was racing to get changed, while Edward and I slipped into the "on call" spot to wait for the second half of the first dance block.

Cat introduced the judges, plugged the tour that the top ten would be going on, reminded America how to vote for their favorite dancer but not to do it until after the show, told everyone that each couple would be dancing twice, and introduced Alice and Jake as the first pair that would be taking the stage all within about forty seconds and I'm pretty sure she didn't once take a breath.

The volume of the audience got louder as the commercial's started playing and we were waiting for the show to come back on. Organized chaos, that was the only word for it. I might have used madness, but for how crazy it was I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Alice and Jake took to the stage in a round of clapping. Their first song was a fast passed Salsa to a song I didn't know. Their costumes were a mix of bright reds and dark purples and they left the stage in an even louder applause. As they scurried off stage left Edward and I raced on stage right while Cat introduced our song, its choreographer, and our names.

Edward held my hand as we scurried onto the stage pulling me close to him at we hit center stage. "Good luck" He whispered in my ear before turning to head to the front of the stage.

"You too" I wasn't sure if he heard me or not.

Edward took his place on the top step of the center stairs and I lined up a few yards behind him, taking the moment that the lights were off to make sure my dress hung straight. The light material brushed against my ankles but fell still as the lights turned back on, this time in shades of gentle blue and white. I hoped that the contrast of Alice's fast dance to our slow dance would work on the audience, the dance after us was fairly fast as well.

I didn't have time to worry about it. With double the number of dances to get threw today the show wasn't wasting a lot of time with Cat talking. As soon as she was done our music started and I had to focus on the dance.

I matched Edward step for step in our synchronized sets and our assisted lift had never been cleaner. Back and forth across the stage, we moved together. We'd worked out moments with each other that we could each look up at the judges or connect with the audience. Our dance was strictly about the two of us but part of the contest was getting the votes, we could forget the audience in the second dance.

I fought to keep my breathing even, while not letting myself get over worked. Usually when I preformed I liked to work with the saying of "leave it all on the stage" It was a good motto, you could always be proud of yourself if you did you best. I was starting to sound like Jason. But, this time we needed to save strength for our second dance with was both faster and more technically demanding.

As the music drifted away, Edward wrapped one arm around my waist and we turned our back on the audience as the lights faded away. The lights hit black and the audience exploded. I spun on my toes and wrapped my arms around Edward's next pulling him into a hug. One down one to go.

Edward hugged me back as we both breathed heavy and tried to gain control over our lungs. We hurried up to Cat's side so the judges could talk to us. Even though we were trying to move quickly they still needed to give their opinions on how we did.

Mary, Nigel and today's guest judge, Katee Shean, who had been on a previous season of the show, all sat together in the judges box off to the side of the stage. I had to force myself to remember to breathe right as Cat looped one of her arms around Edward and the other around me and pulled us to her sides.

The judges kept their comments short sweet and to the point. Nigel thought we did good and said he liked seeing us in a slower number. Mary, for once, didn't scream but she praised the fact that we tried to connect with the audience and recommended we try to do that more. To bad our second dance wasn't really a good one to try and connect with the audience. There was the nasty little side effect of me dying at the end. Katee was polite, she liked our dance and was looking forward to seeing us again and it was cool to get to see a past top female dancer from the show. She hadn't won her season but she'd been the last girl standing.

There wasn't time for lengthy discussions, as soon as they were done, Cat shooed us off stage and the next pair ran on to do their first number.

I was still breathing hard as we tore into our changing room and I took the dress Jason had laid across my seat into the changing room with me. I striped out of the long Waltz dress and tossed it over the door into Jason's waiting hands so he could hang it back up.

The second dress was a light silvery color and I couldn't zip it by myself. I held it to my chest as I came back into the front room. Edward had finished changing before me and Jason already had him seated and was working on his hair. I stopped in front of him and spur around so he could reach it without Jason having to stop his work.

"Edward, can you zip the back up?"

I smirked to myself at his uncomfortable expression in the mirror and then tried not to shiver as his fingers ran up my spine. I was going barefoot for this dance so I didn't have to worry about shoes and I hopped into my chair so that Jason could have his way with my hair. He pinned some of my hair up but let chunks of it fall across my neck and shoulders so it would look like I'd been pulling at it.

Once my hair was a carefully pined mess he added black eye liner and shadowed bags under my eyes so it would look like I needed more sleep. Sonya had initially had the idea of adding red slash marks to my wrists, which I would have done if she had wanted them, but I was secretly glad she had changed her mind.

Once Jason gave us his seal of approval we wondered out into the back stage dungeon to get in line. We were a little early, but adrenalin was still pulsing threw my system from the first dance and I couldn't sit still anymore. Edward had agreed so we went out. Alice and Jake were standing in the on call spot waiting for whoever had just gone out onstage to be done. We wondered over to them so we would be out of the way.

"Wow, Alice what the heck are you wearing?"

Alice smiled at me, ruining the bad ass bicker chick image her outfit putout. "You like it?" She asked spinning around so I could see everything. "I'm not sure leathers my style."

It was definitely different, but she did look good. I was pretty sure Alice could make a garbage bag look good. Alice was dressed head to toe in black leather and fishnets. She was wearing a long sleeved fishnet shirt with a vest over it to hide her black bra and fishnet leggings lead up to the bottom of a ripped piece of gold fabric that could hardly be called a skirt. Her low heeled black boots can up to her knees and it was all finished off with a few silver chains.

"Your second dance is a hip-hop number right?" Edward asked.

"Yep" Jake said stepping forward so he could join us. He too was in black leather pants and silver chains but it looked more natural on him.

"I'm afraid to ask what song." I said, spinning Alice around so I could see the outfit again. "You better not move to fast or that skirts going up." I warned her.

She shrugged her shoulders. "That's kind of the point Bella. But, I've got shorts on under it." She said pulling up the edge of her skirt so we could see the skin tight black shorts under it.

"Short, shorts." Jake commented, and Alice smacked him.

"Well I'm curious, what song?" Edward asked.

At that moment the audience started clapping and we all jumped, we hadn't been paying attention and it was time for Alice and Jake to get in place. We wished them good luck as they headed out and took our place in the on deck spot. I took a deep breath and started to go to my _unhappy_ place. Dead puppies, dead puppies.

I heard the music on stage start and noted that Alice and Jake were dancing to "Nasty" by: Janet Jackson, but I didn't let myself watch their routine on the stage monitor: dead puppies, poring rain, getting voted home. I tried to think of sad images as I shook off the last of the adrenalin from the first dance and switched into contemporary mode.

Edward fidgeted next to me, his back to me as he watched Alice and Jake. I let my eyes wonder over his backside which looked really good in the black half of his costume but then chastised myself for getting distracted. I was still trying to wipe the stupid smile off my face as Alice and Jake ended their song and the lights dimed so we could come out while they talked to the judges. Edward kissed my knuckles and pulled me forward with him as we stepped out onto the stage.

The lights on the stage were dark. The judges finished talking and Alice and Jake raced off the stage. Cat introduced our number and showed a short clip of Sonya talking about her depressing concept and the story behind it. I was glad they'd shown the clip so people would understand what we were doing. The clip blinked off and Cat stepped off stage to turn the attention back on us.

A single spot light fell over me as the opening guitar notes rang around the room. No one in the audience made a noise. I'd never heard the room this quiet during a performance before. The guitar chords hung in the air as the sound of a revolver spinning broke around the room. I hoped I could do this right. Dead puppies, dead puppies, dead puppies.

"_Take a breath, take it deep._

_Calm yourself, he says to me._

_If you play, you play for keeps._

_Take the gun, and count to three."_

I moved slowly to the opening set by myself, center stage. Behind me Edward mirrored some of my moves, flipping back and forth so the audience would have a chance to see both sides to his costume. I'd had both Edward and Sonya help me with my facial expressions so I would look convincing. I moved forward as the lights spread out to encompass Edward and the rest of the stage. Edward moved to my side and took my hand spinning me to him and then off on the other side.

"_I'm sweating now, moving slow._

_No time to think, my turn to go._

_And you can see my heart, beating._

_You can see it through my chest._

_Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving._

_I know that I must pass this test,_

_So just pull the trigger."_

As the next chorus ended I slowed down, dropping out of the move I'd been making unexpectedly and running a hand threw my hair acting like I didn't feel like dancing anymore. Edward moved in a circle around spinning so both sides flashed forward before ending in front of me with his back to the audience. I turned to face him, making my moves feel more lethargic while staying in time with the pulsing beat of the song, as we danced together never letting the white side turn forward.

"_Say a prayer, to yourself._

_He says close your eyes, sometimes it helps._

_Then I get a scary thought._

_That he's here means he's never lost."_

We split up again, dancing side by side across the stage. I faced the audience, taking the time to try and lock eyes with each of the judges while Edward faced the back of the stage, looking like my mirror image. The bright white light above us cast hard shadows across the floor. Edward turned to face me, standing sidewise on the stage so both sides of his costume faced the audience. I kept moving to the same simple set of steps we'd been doing before. He touched my shoulder and I jumped away from him. He followed right behind grabbing my hand and twisting me back to him, holding me against his chest. The silver color of my costume looked gray next to the white of his shirt.

"_And you can see my heart, beating._

_You can see it through my chest._

_Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving._

_I know that I must pass this test."_

As we danced I forced half of attention to focus on the moves, left step, turn right, now twist back with a half step forward. I'd run the dance so many times in the last week, now that I wasn't worried about getting it mixed with the other dance, I didn't need my full concentration. I kept part of myself away of Edward as he danced with me, sometimes leading sometimes falling back as my character pulled away from him. He was never to far away; hovering behind me in white standing out against the dark of the stage, or shadowing my moves backwards in black as fell again.

"_So just pull the trigger!_

_As my life flashes before my eyes,_

_I'm wondering will I, ever see another sunrise?_

_So many wont get the chance to say good bye_

_But, it's too late to think of the value of my life."_

As we moved back to the middle of the stage for the last set of partner moves the tempo of the song picked back up. This dance didn't have any of the showy lifts or flashy tosses we'd done in past numbers so we had to rely completely on the partner sets for on stage chemistry. As I got ready to pull away from "White Edward" for the last time he made an unexpected move. He was supposed to run his left hand threw my tangled hair while holding my wrist in his right hand. Instead he let his hand fall out of my hair and wiped a tear off my cheek. I hadn't realized I'd started crying. On the plus side that would add to the emotion of our dance but on the bad side I bet my mascara was running. Maybe that would add to the story too?

"_And you can see my heart, beating._

_You can see it through my chest._

_Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving, no._

_I know that I must pass this test_

_You can see my heart, beating._

_You can see it through my chest._

_I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving._

_Know that I must pass this test."_

Edward and I stopped center stage. My hands on his hips as his back we to the audience and to me. He turned slowly at the same time I did, our roles reversing as he put his hands on my hips and I turned my back on him. I forced myself to look straight ahead as I faced the audience so I wouldn't catch anyone's eyes, ignoring the cameras hanging from the ceiling catching our every move. Just one more second and it would all be over.

"_So just pull the trigger."_

There was the sound of a revolver spinning, and then a gun shot broke the silence our dance had created. I went limp in Edward's arms as the lights flashed off and hit the ground at his feet, my arms around my head and my hair spilled out around my shoulders. I kept as still as I possible could, my chest's rapid rise and fall the only sign that I wasn't actually dead. I felt Edward's feet shift and heard the moment of silence that followed the end of our number as the last of the music faded away. It was over, no time to fix anything, no second chances. I hoped they liked it.

I could see the lights come back on threw my hair and then the audience started clapping and shouting like they always did. There was a strong hand on my shoulder and then Edward took my hand and was helping me to my feet while I tried to push my hair out of my face. He wiped a few last tears from my face while I blinked my eyes to dry them, feeling kind of stupid that I'd actually started crying on stage.

"Are you ok Bella?" Edward asked "You didn't hurt yourself did you?"

I shook my head and grabbed his arm as we started heading over to Cat, who was waiting for us near the judges. "No, I'm fine. I promise."

"That was great."

"Thanks, you did a great job too."

He shook his head. "That number was all about you."

"Yes," I agreed, "but I would have looked silly dancing by myself."

He chuckled but didn't have time to respond as Cat took his other arm and pulled us forward. "That was wonderful you two, lets see what our judges thought. Nigel why don't we start with you; what did you think of Sonya's new number?"

Nigel clapped a few times and turned to the seats next to the judges both. "I think Sonya really out did herself with this piece. We're so lucky to have choreographers who bring numbers like this to the show, that deal with problems in our world today and I think it was danced very well." He turned back to face us with Cat on stage. "You two normally manage to impress me, I think you're a strong team and Sonya had a good pair to work with."

He turned to look at Mary as Cat asked for her opinion and I smiled to myself when I saw water in her eyes. Sonya had told us the first time we met her that she had hoped this number would make Mary cry.

Mary fanned her face for a second before speaking, and she managed to keep her voice even. "That was very beautiful you two, Nigel's very right to say we're lucky to get to work with so many wonderful choreographers and Sonya's proved time and again that she is incredible talented. My favorite part was when Bella," she pointed down at us. "You actually started crying and then Edward wipe the tear away." The large screen behind us turned on and the clip of our dance played back so everyone could see it again.

I looked like a mess, my hair was snarled and my makeup was running but in a way it made the whole thing better. I did look like I was miserable and sick of life and Edward looked pained as he tried to help me, knowing that in the end he would fail and I would die. It was very dramatic and I hoped Sonya liked it.

"I have to ask you, Bella" Mary started again, drawing our attention from the screen to her. "Was that an accident or were you supposed to cry there?"

I blushed. "It was an accident, we were hoping the piece would invoke an emotional response from the audience but I didn't intend to get so personally attached."

She nodded, like that was what she'd expected me to say. "I think it was a good mistake then." She said, "Dancers have to be involved with what they're dancing or things start to look fake."

Katee agreed with the others that she liked the numbers and thought we would do well in the competition. She whished she could have done a number like this during her season which I thought was crazy since she did a ton of great numbers on the show. Once we were done Cat showed us off the front of the stage to wait with Alice and Jake while the rest of the pairs did their second dance.

The rest of the show went by quickly as pairs danced and raced to get their comments before we ran out of time. Cat ended the show by replaying short clips of everyone's numbers and reminding them of the number to call for their favorite pairs. The three pairs with the lowest number of votes would have to dance for their lives in front of the judges who would be sending one more girl, and one more boy home tomorrow.

After the show I had enough time to introduce everyone in our little group to Erika and talk to my mom some more. They were going to be staying town for the next couple of days and invited me to come meet them for lunch on our day off after tomorrow's ellimination show.

"You could invite a few of your dancing friends if you want." My mom offered after she'd told me this. Summer moved into my side and shot a look over at the others near the stage who were all answering Erika's never ending flow of questions.

"You should bring Edward, I'd love a chance to grill him."

"Summer, be nice." My mom teased.

Summer chuckled. "Like you don't want a chance to talk to him too."

My mom actually blushed a bit before smiling at me. "It would be nice to get to met him on a more personal basic if what Summer tells me about him is true."

Now it was my turn to blush. "What exactly did Summer tell you about him?" I asked her shooting my big mouthed best friend a warning glance.

"Now Bella you be nice." My mom said. "There's nothing wrong with you taking a fancy to the Cullen boy he seems like a nice kid ands not a bad looker."

I blushed and thanked the lord when the crew started calling for us to head out to the buss. I kissed my mom and the cheek and exchanged hugs with Summer and Erika. They both wished me good luck and said they'd see me durring tomorrow's show and promised to vote all the way back to the hotel.

Edward helped me up the stairs to the stage and we made sure Jason had all of our things packed away before climbing up into the dark bus for the adrenalin filled ride back to the studio. Everyone chatted as they came down from their stage high's and compared notes on each others dances as well as how we each thought we did.

Edward and I got a ton of comments on our Contemporary number and Angela was mad she hadn't seen most of it while she changed outfits. By the time we got back to the hotel I was ready for bed. I declined Leah's offer for a girls movie night, took a quick shower to get ride of the last of my makeup and then snuck my pillow up the stairs to Edward's room.

I knocked on his door and nearly jumped out of my tank-top when the door across the hall opened up. Jasper stepped into the hall holding his pillow and smiled at me. I blushed at getting caught and then realized what I was seeing. Jasper was sneaking down to Alice's room. The only rule in the house was they boys and girls should sleep on their own floors. We were so bad. What the crew didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"Good night, Jasper." I said as he slid to the stairwell door and opened it up. Edward's door unlocked and swung open for me.

"You as well Bella." He said before disappearing.

Edward was watching us from the doorway and he was smiling as I slid in and closed the door behind me. I stood on my toes for a kiss and then tossed my pillow onto his bed. He was still dressed in his costume and it looked like I'd caught him on the way to the shower.

"Sorry, I'm a little behind." He said tossing his pajamas into the bathroom. "My parents called and wanted to talk to Emmett and I."

I shrugged. "That's ok, you go ahead. I'll still be here when you get done."

He smirked at me and I kissed him again. "I kind of like the sound of that." He admitted. "I'll be quick."

He kissed me one last time before closing the bathroom door behind him. I tucked myself under his covers with every intention of waiting up for him to come and cuddle with me but the events of the day pulled me under before he'd even shut off the water and I fell asleep.

* * *

~Darkrose

Alright another one done! I hope everyone likes the dance in this one. I had to rewrite it about twenty times before I thought it was ready.

If anyone's looking for another fanfic to read between my updates. I recently got distracted with a very good one called "The Sovereign Six" by: Holly1980. It's an all human twilight story that's rated "M" and its amazing so go check it out.


	42. Hoist the Colors

WOO, Is everyone watching the new season! I kind of miss Mary (Don't tell anyone I said that because she's always irritated me before.) I'm glad that Mia is back the show was deffinetly missing somthing without her and Sonya continues to be beyond excelent as always. Is anyone else thrown off by the all stars comming back? I keep watching them instead of the new people when they dance. Go back to a top twenty! My early favorite is 'Kent' I agree with Adam that he could go really far if he continues to grow. I hope I didn't just jynx him because my favorites never win... Sorry Janette your still my favorite from season 5!

Chapter 42- Hoist the Colors

* * *

Pov- Bella

"Bella, we should head down, we're already late."

I shrugged my shoulders as best I could with Edward's arms around my waist. We'd been up for half an hour just lying together watching the clock slowly tick towards 7'o clock. Today would be individual solo work followed by the elimination show. The others didn't need us to get started on solo work.

Edward probably sensed that I wasn't going to move willingly yet and I bit back a very girlish squeak when he flipped us over unexpectedly. My head landed on his pillow with his arms braced on either side of me so his face could hover above mine.

I smirked up at him, "Good morning."

"Yes it is," He leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. I moved to kiss his lips again but he lifted his head up and out of my reach. I pouted at him which just made him chuckle. "Are you ready to head downstairs?"

He wasn't going to kiss me until I got up. "Are you trying to bribe me?"

"Maybe, is it working?"

I rolled my eyes. "Alright I'm getting up."

I braced my elbows against the mattress ready to push myself up but he didn't move over. I raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought you wanted me to get up?"

"Don't you want your reward?" He asked leaning down to press his lips against mine again. I definitely wanted my reward.

Five minuets later we both rolled out of bed to start changing for the day. I'd brought a change of clothes up with me so we wouldn't have to stop at my room on our way down. Edward was digging in his closet for a clean shirt and I debated taking my clothes into his bathroom to change or just changing here. It wasn't like he hadn't seen most of it anyway with some of the outfits I'd worn on the show and I was wearing a bra.

Staying here won, I didn't feel like walking to the bathroom. I exchanged my sleeping shorts for black yoga pants and slipped into a pair of silver flats. I'd probably work on my solo barefoot but I preferred to have something on my feet when we climbed the stairs. I tugged my tank-top over my head and tossed it with my shorts on the end of the bed.

I could hear Edward as he stepped back into the main room and felt like being mean. I owed him a little pay back for bribing me to get up. I said a quick thank you to Summer for her way with Victoria's Secret. She'd made me buy the bra I was wearing right now and it was the only one I'd brought with me that gave my meager bust some decent cleavage.

The shirt I was going to wear was on the other side of the bed and as I reached over to get it I stuck my ass a little farther up in the air then it would have gone by itself. I grabbed the shirt and wiggled my hips a little bit. The pants I was wearing were some of my favorites, tight around the waist so they wouldn't fall down but lose around my legs so I could still dance in them. They made my butt look good in my modified "Bend and snap". Summer would have been proud.

I straightened up with the intent of turning around and letting him watch me pull the shirt over my head. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I hadn't heard him move. Before I could spin around a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist. "You know," Edward said softly, his lips pressed against the shell of my ear. "I like you in blue, but black is pretty nice too." He kissed his way from my ear to my shoulder and I shivered as his fingers brushed against my bare sides.

My skin flamed as I blushed and I was irritated that he'd turned this back on me. I was supposed to be teasing him. His lips left my shoulder and I twisted before he could move again. His hands still on my hips, I faced him and laid my arms around his neck, still holding my shirt in my hand.

"Actually I'm pretty sure I have a bra identical to this one in blue." Actually I knew I did, it was the wrong blue, but he didn't need to know that yet.

His eyes dropped momentarily to my bra before returning to my face and I flamed hotter as my blush crept from my checks down my neck. My wash of bravery was gone, and my playful need to tease him suddenly didn't seem so smart. I was in good shape and I'd always had clear skin but I'd never thought of myself as particularly pretty; particularly plain maybe.

He seemed to sense my sudden unease as his arms loosened their hold on me. "You are beautiful Bella." He said before leaning in quick to kiss me again. This kiss was quicker then our previous exchanges and he stepped back when his lips left me bending over to grab his shoes. "You ready?" He asked with a smirk and I realized I hadn't moved yet. I tugged my shirt on over my head and stole his brush quick to tie my hair back.

"Let's do it."

In the end we still had to stop by my room so I could brush my teeth and drop off my pajamas. I was glad to see that our little exchange upstairs didn't create any awkward tension between us. He waited in my room while I finished getting ready and held my hand all the way down to the lounge. Edward pushed the door open for us and every eye in the room turned on us.

Cat was standing with a camera guy and another man with the other dancers. Cat waved us into the room and Emmett patted the empty chair next to him for me to sit in.

"There they are." Cat said with a bright smile. I hoped they hadn't been waiting for us too long. "Now I can introduce my friend here, Mr. Wade Robson."

Everyone clapped and small whispers broke out among the dancers. I knew Wade from some of the past seasons. He choreographed 'Ramalama' in season two, and last seasons top ten group dance to 'So Much Betta'. Did this mean he was going to be doing a group number with us?

"Alright everyone, alright." Cat said trying to reclaim our wondering attention. "As some of you may have guessed already Wade is here to do a group number with you for tonight's show."

Tonight? The room fell silent as everyone took that in.

Cat chuckled at us. "That's right tonight's show is going to open with this top fourteen group number. That means you've all got a lot of work ahead of you, because the show is in roughly ten hours." She turned to Wade. "Your stuff is set up in Studio two downstairs and the stage team is working back in the main building. Their all yours."

Cat and the camera guys left and Wade smiled at us and clapped his hands together once. "Let's get to work. Everyone met me downstairs, in studio two, in five minutes."

Wade left followed by some of the dancers who were ready to head down. I wolfed an orange and a granola bar before downing a glass of water. It wasn't what I would have normally chosen for breakfast but I would need something in my stomach.

Emmett followed Edward and I into the hall as we headed downstairs. "You two cut it kind of close this morning don't you think?"

I hit him in the arm. "Shut up Emmett."

"Bella didn't want to get up." Edward said dumping the blame on me. I hit him too. "I wasn't the only being a little slow this morning."

"You took forever to get changed." He said smirked at my playfully.

I blushed, and shot a glance at Emmett. What did I care if Emmett was listening? He was on our side and he'd already promised to be quiet. "We'll I could have gone faster if you hadn't interrupted me."

"Oh" Emmett voiced with a smirk of his own. "Is this gunna be a dirty story? Because if it is, I should go get some popcorn."

"It's not a dirty story." I said, pausing in the hall so Edward could pull the door to the stairs open.

Emmett shied. "To bad, well I suppose it's not my place to push you kids. What do you think about this new group number?"

"Wade's amazing." Edward commented. "Did you see Ramalama in season two?"

I nodded. "Yes I did, it was one of my favorites."

"I bet this one's going to be even better." Emmett said as we reached the first floor and found some of the other dancers already stretching.

"Why's that?" I asked, setting my water bottle down along the wall.

"Duh" Emmett said, "Because I'm here this time."

I chuckled but our conversation was cut off as Wade walked in with the last of the dancers. He was carrying a box and when he got to the front of the room he asked us to all gather around. He went around and made sure he knew everyone's names.

"I've been watching the show so far and I'm very excited for my chance to work with you."

He dug in his box and pulled out a worn, three corner, dark leather hat. "The dance I have in mind for tonight doesn't really have a set style. I personally tend to lean towards Jazz like styles, but you could argue that it's contemporary." He held out the hat. "This is the captain's hat." He hit a button on the stereo and a very familiar tune started playing.

"This is Pirates of the Caribbean." Ben said. "I love Hanz Zimmer."

The whole room was smiling as the popular theme of the Black pearl continued to play around the room. I had to agree with Ben, these movies were amazing.

"That's right Ben." Wade said. "This dance is going to be a collection of songs from the pirates movies. Your all get dressed up like a bunch of scallywags and I've been working with our props master Tony for the stage decorations. There's going to be a sale hanging from the ceiling, a set of hanging nooses and even a working plank leading out over the front of the stage."

As Wade explained some of the different parts of the dance he started passing around a few of the props we were going to be using. Our dance would be taking place on a makeshift pirate ship and we would all be its crew. There would be one captain, who would get to wear the hat Wade was holding, one person would get to work the crows nest and actually repel from the ceiling and then one person was going to lead a mutiny against the others.

The dance would portray the struggles on the ship as the disloyal crew member tried to take over the ship. Everyone would get to dress up and there would be a chest full of treasure. He passed around a pair of shackles, a few medallions that people would get to wear, one of the swords we'd be using and even an eye patch that someone could wear if they felt brave.

"Who gets to be the captain?" Leah asked taking the hat Wade was passing around and putting it on her head. "I think I'd make a pretty bombing captain."

"Pirates didn't have girl captains." Erik said snatching the hat from her head.

"Elizabeth got to be captain in the last movie." Leah argued. "And that Japanese lady was a captain at Shipwreck Cove."

Wade took the hat from Erik and collected the rest of the props. "I've already chosen who is going to do each part." He tossed the hat across the group and it landed in Emmett's lap. "Emmett is our captain." He pointed to Erik. "If you're ok with it Erik, I'd like you to be the person up in the crows nest."

Erik whooped. "Hells yes I'm ok with that."

"Good," he nodded. "Now for our mutineers." He pointed one finger at Leah, who still looked a little upset that she didn't get to be captain, and then he turned and pointed one finger at me. "Bella and Leah, how do you too feel about working together?"

Leah brightened up immediately and held out a fist for me to bump. "That's right we bad." She said sticking her tongue out at Emmett. "And your ship is going down."

"In your dreams Clearwater."

Wade stepped in before they could start bickering and ordered everyone to stretch quickly so we could get started. We were going to work on some of the basic sets here and then move to the studio were the stage was already being set up.

We worked hard all morning and wound up eating lunch in the costume shop as best we could while Max's team worked on our costumes. Everyone was dressed in ripped pants or tattered skirts. There were several pairs of worn boots, lots of gold medallions, bandanas, skulls, leather, and dirty makeup to make us look like we'd been at sea for awhile.

Erik argued to use one of the eye patches, but Wade shut him down saying it was too dangerous when he was repelling from the ceiling. Leah and I were the only girls in pants, to help the audience make the connection that we were working together. I tied a dirty red scarf around my waist and Max added a leather belt that would hold the sword I got to use when I attacked Emmett. My top was a corset with a gold tie and poufy cream sleeves that hung off my shoulders and exposed most of my collar bone. I topped it off with worn black boots, my own gold chain, and a brown bandana that Jason would hook into my air so it didn't fall off.

Once everyone was dressed, make up would wait until right before the show, we were herded down to our buss and on our way to the studio. Jason had the box's with mine and Edward's solo outfits incase we fell into the bottom and I was getting nervous that we wouldn't have any time to work on our solo's.

Wade led us through the front doors and down one of the isles towards the stage.

"Shit" Erik commented as the stage came into view.

Emmett let out a low whistle, "I've got a good looking ship."

"It won't be yours for long." Leah commented under her breath, she was still a little upset that she couldn't be the captain.

The stage looked amazing. There was a platform set up on one end with a ship's wheel, a large black sail was hanging above the stage and I could see the wooden nest suspended from the cat walk that Erik would be using. The rest of the stage was covered in crates and barrels and piles of rope to make it look like a ship, there was even a canon in the back.

We had to walk up the side stairs to get onto the stage since the front steps were blocked by a long board leading out in front of the stage. Wade walked out onto the makeshift plank and started right back into our practice. He ordered Erick off to the side with a couple crew guys in black to learn how to repel from the ceiling and the rest of us were back to work.

Our music played over the loud speaker and the guys in the light box experimented with different shades of blues and greens, making the lights move so it looked like the ship was sailing on open seas. Leah and Emmett were working on a set of choreographed sword fighting, while I was working with Jasper, who was Emmett's first mate.

"Leah you need to spin farther on the last swing." Wade commented, calling for the music to stop and the rest of us to be quiet.

On the last swing of Leah's fight she was going to hop the railing on the raised plat form and land next to me on the stage below her.

"Yes just like that." Wade called as they ran through the fight again. "Now hop down." Leah flipped over the railing as Emmett lunged after her and landed at my side. "Good right next to Bella, just like that. The two of you will overcome Jasper and then head across the stage towards the treasure."

I smirked at Jasper when he was looking at Leah and leapt forward. I hit him in the hand with my rubber sword and he dropped his. "On guard."

"No sound effects Bella, but yes just like that." Wade commented.

"Pirates don't say on guard." Jasper commented as he retrieved his sward. "That was knights."

I made a face at him and said "Arrg. Happy?" He laughed.

Wade led me and Leah across the stage as he called the others into place. There would be a large group section and James would convert to our side so Leah and I had a male partner to dance with. The group section would end with James dead, Leah captured and, I cornered against the plank. Dang it!

Under Wade's direction Emmett moved forward, his captain's hat in place and his sword pointed towards me.

"Walk the plank Bella." He said with a sneer in his best pirate's voice.

I backed up until my boots hit the edge of the plank before turning to face the "Audience" Emmett moved forward to poke me with his sword and then I walked. Wade wanted me to drop just after the last note of the song. I would land in the center isle next to whoever was sitting in the end seats and stay there until the lights came on and Cat walked out. We would do the opening segment in our pirate costumes while the stage hands cleaned off the stage and then line up to find out who was going home tonight.

We took a five minute break so everyone could catch their breath and down their water bottles before Wade was calling for a full run through. We all got to watch Erick practice repelling a few times before he felt comfortable enough to do it by himself during the song. Wade called out opening spots and signaled to the guys working the light box.

The music started slow with Emmett up on the raised deck steering his ship. Jasper joined him holding a map and they conferred about direction while the rest of us started smaller individual sets on other parts of the ship.

Edward and Ben carried the treasure chest across the stage and set it on a crate for everyone to see. I crept across the front of the stage so the audience would see me and made my way towards the chest while the others were working. I drew my sword and hoped up next to the chest. There was a rise in the music as Emmett hoped off the raised deck and chased me away from the chest.

I sulked across the stage to where the other deck hands were working and grabbed the end of the rope Erik tossed me from the crows nest. I shook it a few times like I was helping with the sails before tying it to the wooden rail running along the back of the ship.

The lights danced in shades of blues and greens as they swayed on the ceiling to make it look like the ship was moving. I kept shooting glances at Emmett as he and Jasper joined some of the other boys for a quick group set in front of the chest. When they were done I hoped into my place and did a similar group set with Leah and the other dancers who had been working on the ship.

I touched Angela's arm and pulled her forward, when the segment was over, and made a show of putting my lips to her ear and pointing my sword at Emmett. I was asking her to help me off him so I could take over the ship and take the treasure. She pushed away from me shaking her head and disappeared back into the choreographed mayhem of the ships crew.

A few people were swabbing the deck, one of the smaller sails swung down as Erik repelled to the ground, and Emmett had returned to his spot near the helm. I kept my movements just a bit behind the beat so the audience would see that I wasn't moving in sync with the rest of the loyal crew. As the music rose again Leah and Jasper got into a little tiff. Jasper waved his hand like he was dismissing her and Leah sulked across the stage. I made my move and caught up to her as she reached the front of the stage again.

I put my arm over her shoulders, pointing my sword up at Emmett, so the audience would get that I was after him. Leah nodded along with my plan and pulled out her own sword. The dance was going better then I could have hoped it would, for only having the morning to work on it. There was enough non-dance choreography, with all of the ship props, that the audience wouldn't notice that it wasn't very clean.

As the entire group met up in the center of the ship, towards the end of the number, Leah pulled James to us for the final group set. The others were slowly working us forward towards the plank as we tried to gain the upper hand. We were outnumbers and it was becoming clear for the audience that we would lose in the end.

The music hit another high as the familiar theme from the pirates movies played over the loud speakers. James spun me forward as Leah danced past me so they could do the lift they'd been working on. I had my back to the majority of the dancers so I didn't see who it was that tripped.

One second I was getting ready for a spin and the next I was shoved off balance as someone heavier then me plowed into my back. I was shoved forward as some of the other dancers called out over the music. I threw my hands up as I hit the ground and felt someone slide over my legs as I rolled into the ledge for the plank.

The ledge that led up to the plank was only about two inches high but it kept me from flying over the edge of the stage like whoever had hit me did. Someone screamed, another voice called for the music to stop and then Wade was yelling for the show medics.

"Bella are you ok?"

The music cut off, but it was hardly noticed as everyone started speaking at once. Jake had rolled me over as he Edward and Angels hovered over me. My arm was throbbing from where I'd rolled into the plank ledge but I was fine.

"I'm good, I'm fine. What in the world happened?"

Jake sat me up and Edward ordered me to focus on the finger he was holding in front of my face. I batted his finger away. "I don't have a concussion."

Another pod of people were gathered over someone on the stage and Wade was down on the floor in front of the stage.

"James and Leah messed up their lift." Angela said. "He dropped her and then tripped over Erik. He ran into you and you both fell."

I saw Emmett pull Leah to her feet and then catch her as she wobbled. She adjusted her weight to her other foot and looked like she was favoring her right ankle. I tried to get to my feet but Edward kept me down as the medic crew burst in the front doors.

I rolled my eyes at him and tried to get up. "Are you kidding me I'm fine and I'm not going back to see Dr. Andrews again."

He complained but I made Jake help me to me feet. I checked both of my ankles and then my arm. I was scraped up a bit but I was fine. I moved to Leah's side and she shot an irritated glare at me.

"That jack ass dropped me! If my ankles messed up I'll kill him." She turned her glare on the edge of the stage where James had fallen and her expression faltered. "Is he ok?"

The medics had reached James and Wade was yelling to try and get the other dancers out of the way. Tears stained James's cheek as two of the medics lifted him up and propped him on the stretcher they'd rolled in.

Wade was ordering everyone on the stage as Dr. Andrews ordered his team to move James back to his mini wing of the show studio. Wade climbed up onto the stage and came over to us. "Leah, Bella are you two alright?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

"Me too." Leah said quickly.

"Leah landed on her ankle." Emmett said, ratting her out. "She's limping."

Leah shot him a death glare. "It's fine."

"You need to get it looked at." Edward added. "If it's sprained you'll do more harm then good by over working it."

Wade called one of the medic techs to bring in another stretcher and Leah's death glare turned murderous. "No stretcher, I can walk."

To prove her point she took a few steps forward and tripped. "Damn it." She cursed as Emmett caught her around the waist.

"I got her Wade." Emmett offered waving off the second stretcher.

Leah was still scowling, but she didn't complain as he picked her up and hopped off the stage with her. They followed out the same door Dr. Andrews had taken James and the stage suddenly felt very quiet and empty after the uproar the accident had caused.

I bent over to grab my sword and when I stood up Victoria was waiting with her own glare. "You tripped him." She accused me. "He said he couldn't move his knee, how is he supposed to come back and dance tonight?"

"I didn't trip him." I shot out before she could continue. "He ran into me, my back was to him."

"Girls." Wade cut off our argument and stepped between us. "This was no ones fault." He continued. "Dance accidents happen all the time. I want you all to work individually for right now while I go check on James and Leah. Stay on the stage."

Wade hoped off the stage and headed for the door. The stage remained quiet until the door had shut behind him and then everyone started asking questions at once. What had happened, did anyone know what was wrong with James, how bad had Leah's ankle been, what would happen to the routine if they couldn't come back, would they be able to dance at all tonight, and if not, did that mean that they would be eliminated and the rest of us would get a free pass?

Jasper, Alice, Rose, Edward and I, all wound up sitting near the ships wheel on the raised platform. We all knew we should be working but no one really felt like it. Victoria hadn't spoken to me again but from her cold glances I had a feeling she was still blaming me. That was outrageous, my back had been to Leah and James, I hadn't even known they'd tripped up until James had run into me.

A half hour later Wade showed up with Cat and a camera man close on his heels. They gathered us all together before Wade told us what he knew. Leah's ankle was a little swollen, she'd jammed it when she fell wrong, but she was ok. She would be coming back in a little bit to see if it would interfere with any of our set choreography.

"Dr. Andrews wasn't as optimistic about James's condition." He said. "They have to wait for the x-rays to come back but it looked like he might have torn a mussel in his knee. If that is the case they'll take him to the hospital here in town to have him looked at. For now we'll have to wait and see if he can continue in the competition."

"What if he can't come back?" Tanya asked. She was James's partner. If he couldn't come back it would really only affect her.

"If James has to be medically eliminated then Tanya will partner with what ever boy loses their partner in tonight's show. I'm still trying to get a hold of Nigel and Mary to let them know what's happened. They might have another plan, but that's what makes the most sense to me."

Cat nodded along, "I'll get in touch with our producers to see what they'd want to happen. Hopefully James will be with us and we won't need to worry about any changes."

The door to the stage swung open and framed in the entrance was Emmett and Leah. Emmett was carrying a pair of crutches and Leah's ankle had been wrapped but she limped her way to the stage without any help. I had a feeling she'd have to get hit by a bus before she'd let someone tell her to go home over an injury.

I clapped with a few other people as she hopped her way up onto the stage and she hit me in the arm because I was the closest. "Shut up, I'm fine." She wobbeled and I grabed her arm to help her kepp her balance. Emmett tryed to give her the crutches but she ignored him.

"We're just glad you can still walk. We thought Bella might have killed two birds with one stone by getting you and James elliminated for injury." Jake commented from his safe spot behind me where Leah couldn't reach him.

"How was this my fault?" I asked. Jake dodged away from my when I tried to grab him and Leah steped out of my hold so I wouldn't bump her.

"I was only kidding Bella." Jakes promised. "It's usualy you who trips over their own feet."

Leah shot an anxious glance at Wade and Cat and forced a smile for their sake. "I'm fine, really." She insisted. "Dr. Andrews said I can still perform if you'll let me. I just need to take it easy and not put all of my weight on it for a few days. I'll make it work."

Wade nodded along, "All right Leah, We'll see how it goes. Let's give it a try everyone, set up to run it from the top."

Cat and her camera man disappeared as the rest of us sorted out our props and got into our starting places. One of the med techs was sitting in the stands watching us, or watching Leah really, but she was determined not to let this get to her.

We had to make a few adjustments to the dance for Leah's ankle and incase James couldn't come back, but in the end we had a full length number that wouldn't hurt Leah but would still wow the audience. I dropped off the end of the plank as the last notes of the music fell away and Wade started applauding. Tonight was going to be a mess.

* * *

~Darkrose

R&R, it makes my day and lets me know what you guys think of my writing and how I could improve on it. As always I'm sorry my updates have been slower then we'd all like, I keep getting distracted with diffrent things, I have no excuse.


	43. Evictions must go on

Here is the ending to week four that you've all been waiting for so long and I'm sorry for that…I feel like I've been apologizing a lot for my tardiness lately and I am truly thankful to all of you who have stuck through this with me.

Chapter 43: Evictions must go on

* * *

Pov-Bella

What a mess. From my spot back stage I could hear the live audience talking, their dull roar only slightly muffled by the thick stage curtain seperating us. I was sitting with Leah and Jake off to the side, while Leah iced her ankle. She had a nice bruise forming but the swelling had gone down a bit. James still wasn't back and no one had heard any news from the medics.

"This sucks." Jake said bumping his head against the wall behind him.

"Not for you it doesn't." Leah said wincing as she stood up to try and stretch out her leg. "If James goes home tonight you and the other boys get a free pass into next week."

"Not necessarily." I said, passing Leah the brace she was going to have to wear during tonight's routine. It limited her mobility, which was kind of the point I guess, but it would make the rest of tonight's dance harder on her. "Who knows what the judges have in store for us. They could do anything."

"And I don't want a free pass." Jake added. "I don't think any of the guys here do, we all want the chance to beat James fair and square."

Leah popped another pair of aspirin into her mouth and sat back down to rub her ankle some more. I waved her hands away and propped her foot in my lap so that I could rub it for her.

"What if he had beaten you?" Leah asked, trying to make her voice playful but she couldn't hide the wince when I pushed to hard.

"Sorry." I said quickly and lightened my grip.

She waved me off.

Jake snorted, "Get real Leah, I could dance circles around that punk. He's a good dancer but he's no Jake."

"Well now you'll never know." She said playfully.

They continued their banter as Emmett and Edward joined us and Edward took over massaging Leah's ankle for me. He alternated between icing it and rubbing because he said it would help it heal stronger and suggested that regardless of how the show went tonight she should try using a heat wrap at night for the next week so it didn't stiffen up later in the show.

Everyone was dressed in their pirate best; my solo dress was hanging up on the back of my chair. Jason came around and touched up Edward's and mine's make-up, and before I could believe it was really time, we were being called to line up and James still wasn't here.

I was off on stage right with some of the other "deck hands" and the music started as soon as "_captain_ Emmett" stepped on stage. The lights turned blue and green as they rocked slowly to the beat of the sea. The stage looked amazing and I tried not to let the audience's applause throw me off as I stepped on stage with the others.

My focus settled on the music as I let myself fall into character. Emmett might think that this was his ship, but I was about to take it from him. Or at least try to take it. As the music grew I played my part as a deck hand. Victoria tossed me a broom and I swept a few times before tossing it back. I was on the front end of the stage so the audience would easily be able to see me as we broke into smaller groups to do eight count sets.

Edward and Ben carried the chest across the stage and I stepped out of sync with my group to watch them. The smaller groups on the other side got together for a larger set which then my side mirrored and I moved forward to grab Angela's arm. I pointed to the chest and tried to pull her with me but she brushed me off and danced away.

The audience cried out as Erik flipped down from the crows nest and then cheered when he landded saftly. I drew my sword and sunk around the other dancers only to be chased away by Emmett as I neared his treasure. The audience seemed to have realized that I was up to something, and I tried not to let it throw me, as I turned to the crowd and saw just how many people were watching us. I usually tried not to lock eyes with the audience.

The music grew as I swapped sides and fell into step with Leah's group. She's just been told off by Jasper and, as the others danced, I pulled her to the front and waved my sword at Emmett. She smiled evilly and rubbed her hands together like a villain in an old school murder film. It was perfect and her acting helped me fall farther into character. She drew her sword and we advanced.

We were creeping up the center of the stage as the other dancers moved in sync around us. Emmett was playing the part of Capitan up by the wheel and his loyal first mate Jasper was blocking the stairs to him. This was part of the dance we'd had to change. Leah couldn't hop down from the platform so I let her slip past me to take on Jasper and took her part by running up the steps and attacking Emmett.

Emmett drew his sword after ducking past my first blow and I couldn't get rid of the stupid grin as we play fought. We hit our swords together a few times and he did an impressive flip to doge one of my blows. Emmett lunged at me and I spun on my toes and dove into Leah's flip before I could let myself think about what I was doing.

I hit the ground hard but on my feet, having dodged Emmett's blow to block one of Jasper's from hitting Leah. We were losing. I smacked Jasper in the hand with my sword and his slid across the stage out of reach. I jumped forward to finish him off as the rest of the ship converged on us. They forced us forward twoards the audence. Without James we couldn't do a lift and that was better for Leah's ankle anyways. The music grew stronger as Jake caught Leah and forced her to her knees with his blade at her throat. My only partner had been captured.

The rest of the crew formed a half circle around me leaving me trapped against the plank as the music slowed to a grand coard. Emmett stepped forward and the audience clapped and laughed as he forced me backwards onto the plank by waving his sword at me. I really sucked at the whole mutiny thing, I didn't think I'd make a good pirate.

I dropped my sword in surrender and turned to face the audience. I stepped forward with the last few drum beats, and as the theme from pirates ended I dropped off the plank to land in a roped off section of the audience. The lights went dark for a moment as the crowd roared and then came back up in a sea of oranges and reds as Cat walked out to another round of cheers.

"That's your top fourteen America! Aren't they lovely? You all look so wonderful, look I even brought my eye patch along."

I pulled out of my crouch and moved towards the stage as Cat waved to the crowd and showed off her gold eye patch. Edward offered me a hand as I climbed up the stairs back onto the stage and Cat got the crowd clapping again.

"Let's give them another hand everyone, that wonderful routine was choreographed by our very own Wade Robson! Wasn't it wonderful"

The crowd cheered again and the music switched as I moved with the other girls to get to the left side of the stage and the boys moved to the right.

"Here they are again America!" Cat called, having moved center stage. She held out her arms. "These are your boys." One by one the boys stepped forward and struck a pose as she called off their names. "Erik, Jasper, Jake; our very own captain Emmett." Emmett took off his captain's hat for a bow before launching the hat into the crowd. "Ben, and Edward."

The boys moved back as I slid forward with the girls. Leah was right in front of me and I was glad to see that her ankle wasn't slowing her down any.

"And these are your beautiful top seven girls." Cat called amid another round of cheering as she called off our names. "Tanya, Angela, Rosalie, Alice, Victoria and our very own pirate malcontents Leah and Bella!"

Leah and I struck our pose together before spinning away from the audience to dance our way off stage with the rest of the dancers. As soon as we got off stage Leah tripped over a cord on the floor and Emmett and I helped her get seated off to the side. Her eyes were wet but she refused to cry in front of us.

"That was awesome" She commented. "Ouch, don't touch." She yelled as Emmett tryed to look at her ankel.

"Sorry, Yeah it was, you two thought you could take my ship away." Emmett said making her laugh.

"We almost got it." I added elbowing him.

He rolled his eyes, we hadn't even been close. "Yeah better luck with that next time." He said sarcasticaly.

Out front we could hear Cat introducing the judges and then the comment we'd all been waiting for came up.

"Now some of you may have noticed that we were one guy short on stage this evening." Cat started, addressing the live audience out front as well as the live cameras sending the show out all over the country.

All of the dancers back stage had fallen quiet and were gathered around the stage front monitors so we could watch, all in various stages of getting out of our pirate outfits and into our solo costumes.

"Earlier today," Cat continued once the audience had quieted down. "While our dancers were learning the very dance you just saw them perform, this happened." She motioned to the large monitor as a clip started playing.

They always had cameras on us, so it didn't shock me that they had footage of the accident, but I hadn't seen it earlier like the others had. The camera showed all of us dancing together on stage with Wade clapping his hands and calling out directions. Then zoomed in on me as I spun towards the plank and the others moved forward to catch us.

Over my shoulder you could see James throw Leah into a lift and even before it was over you could tell it was going to go wrong. James had thrown Leah wrong and she was crooked in the air. She threw a hand out to try and correct the mistake but it was too late to stop it and James didn't know how to fix it. She came down wrong and James lost his grip on her as she fell to the stage and he was knocked forward into me.

James and I tumbled across the stage and the clip ended as he fell off the front of the stage and disappeared into the empty seats. The audience gasped and then a short clip of James and Leah in the medics room played and then the screen was back on Cat. "In a season with more accidents then ever before will this fall finally be the one that sends one of our contestants home?" She asked. "We'll tell you all about it after this break."

During the break Jason pulled Edward and I back to our room and started scrubbing the pirate make-up off our faces. He was working on our hair as the small monitor in our dressing room came on and we could see Cat standing on stage with Leah and Emmett.

Leah was still in her pirate outfit but someone had cleaned her face off and Emmett, who still had on his pirate make-up had changed into a pair of black pants. He had one arm around Leah's waist and was holding her up because she wasn't putting any of her weight on her bad ankle and had apparently refused to use her crutches.

"Welcome back everyone," Cat called "For those of you who are just joining us, we just watched a clip of the nasty accident we had right here earlier this morning. Now Leah you're with us tonight." She said turning to Leah. "But James and Bella were also knocked over, can you tell us a bit about what happened."

Leah nodded before speaking into the mic. "I'm not completely sure to be honest Cat. I hadn't seen it until the clip, it all went so fast in practice. James tossed me up but I was crooked and the landing went wrong. He fell into Bella and then rolled off the stage."

Cat nodded along. "And you and James both went to see the medics, what did they tell you?"

"Yes," Leah said. "Bella was fine. I jammed my ankle pretty badly and I don't know about James. We haven't heard anything yet."

Cat nodded along again and turned to the judges table. "I believe you have some news on James don't you Nigel?" She asked.

"Yes," Nigel said leaning forward towards his mic. "After the accident we had a talk with our show doctor about everyone involved in the accident. Leah is under surveillance and resting her ankle, but obviously she's here with us tonight for which were all very glad and is still able to perform."

Mary and the audience clapped and Leah looked like she wanted to run from the stage, clearly not enjoying the attention because she was hurt.

"Bella," Nigel continued and I whished he would have just left me out of it since I hadn't been hurt. "Escaped with minor scraped, which was very lucky given her track record so far this season." The audience laughed and I flicked Jason off when he giggled too. So I'd almost gotten run over by a crazy van and I'd fractured my knuckle punching Edward in the face. Get over it!

"Oh, shut up."

Edward smirked at me, but his lop sided smile was so beautiful I didn't get mad at him. He was lucky he was cute. "You know they only mentioned it to get some laughs and ease the tension out there." He said and as much as I didn't like it, that made sense.

Nigel continued. "On the other hand, after talking with our medics we've very recently learned that James's injuries were worse then we first thought them to be."

The room went quiet as he continued. I could just picture the other dancers in their dressing rooms with their noses pressed against the monitors like we were as everyone listened to hear if James would be joining us again. It didn't sound promising.

"James has torn a muscle in his knee." Nigel explained. "He's at the hospital right now getting it looked at but, from what we have heard, it will need surgery and the doctors say that there is no way he will be able to continue with this competition. He's going to need months of therapy after the operation before he will even be able to dance again and were all very sorry that it's come down to this."

It was like someone had let the air out of our balloon. That was it, he was really gone. It didn't matter what America thought this week because James couldn't come back. Cat gave Emmett and Leah the ok to leave the stage before she turned back to talk to Nigel some more.

"So what does that mean for the remaining contestants?" She asked.

"It means that for the rest of our guys it doesn't matter what America thought of their performances last night, they will all automatically make it into next week." There was some cheering for the boys from the audience but they fell silent as Nigel continued. "Tonight just the girls will come on stage and we'll see which three girls have fallen into the bottom and are in danger of going home."

Just as he finished speaking a crew man walked into our room and told Edward that the guys were going to be lining up with Cat on stage after the next break and that he should get into place as soon as possible.

Jason fluffed Edward's hair and then I put it back in place. "Congratulations." I told him as he pulled on his shirt. He shrugged. "It's kind of bitter sweat." He said. "I don't want to get it this way."

That was the same thing Jake had said.

I gave him a hug. "Don't worry about it now. You were better then James anyway. You're in the top twelve, just one more week and you're on the top ten tour."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and crushed me to him. "You better be there with me, so go out their and kick some ass ok?"

"Are you saying that you think we'll fall into the bottom?"

He shook his head. "No, but if we do I want you to kick some ass, ok?"

"I will." I promised.

He left and I waved to a few of the other guys as they passed by before letting Jason finish my hair. He brushed it out and left it down my back as I slipped into the Latin style dress I'd chosen for my solo dance if I had to do one this week.

Every week I had new ideas about what I wanted to do for my solo. Latin was my strongest style so I knew it would always be the core of my work. This week I'd found a one sleeved orange dress with lots of fringe. The skirt only covered one of my legs and there was a hole in it to show of my mid-drift but it would work perfectly for the hip work in Latin dancing. Jason thought it was sexy.

After the next break Cat called the guys on stage with her and repeated the bit about them all making it into next week. I lined up with the other girls off stage as Cat had the audience clap and directed the guys down to the floor in front of the judge's seats.

"This week only the girls are in danger." Cat said turning her attention back to the camera. "So let's find out which of our three girls will be dancing for their lives. Can I have the first group please?"

Victoria, Rosalie, Leah and Angela all walked out on stage. Leah had succumbed to using her crutches to help keep her weight off her ankle. They lined up next to Cat who was holding her white envelop with the results of last nights voting in it.

"First, Leah lets start off with you. Do you think you'd be able to dance a solo tonight if you had to?" She asked.

Leah stood up straighter and held her head high. "Of course." She answered strongly. "I'm not ready to go home and it's going to take more then this to send me off early. I'm here to stay."

The crowd applauded her strength and cat opened her envelop after a quick clip of Leah's dance last night. "I look's like your ankle is safe Leah." Cat said. "Because America loved you and you are the first woman in our top twelve."

The crowd cheered and clapped and Jake and Emmett both hoped up on stage to help Leah get down. Jake took her crutches as Emmett showed off his strength by picking her up and hopping back down to the floor.

Cat moved on to Victoria, who was the first girl in the bottom and I held my breath as she went over clips of both Rosalie's and Angela's dance umbers from the night before.

"So Rosalie and Angela." Car said, drawing out our pain. "One of you is safe from elimination and one of you will have to fight for your life with Victoria in the bottom three. But who did America vote to keep after yesterday's dances?" She paused again. "We'll find out after this break."

AHH! I hate it when she does that.

Last night Rosalie had danced Broadway and Tango with Ben. Rose had felt better on the Tango and Ben had obviously shined on the Broadway. I thought both pieces were strong but the judges had commented that Rose had a tendency to dance stronger the Ben did which threw off their partnership. Ben was already safe, I just hoped that those comments wouldn't get Rose sent into the bottom.

Angela and Erik had done a duo with African Rumba and Contemporary. There comments hadn't been the best either. They thought Angela had trouble getting into the right grove for an African style number and Erik had trouble lifting himself to get the long lines needed in the Contemporary number. They were both on the weaker end of the remaining dancers, but I loved them both and didn't want to see either gone.

Cat turned on her smile and moved between the last two girls as the camera came on. She pulled them both in close before announcing that Angela was the second girl in the bottom. I was sad to se her fall but not surprised that she had fallen rather then Rose. Rose was a powerhouse of blond-haired mussel. If I wanted to win I had to eventually beat both her and Leah and they were both stronger dancers then I was.

Cat called the rest of us out onto the stage and I stood in line with Alice and Tanya. Cat called Alice forward first.

"Alice, last night you preformed an up-beat Hip-hop routine and an even faster Salsa number with your partner Jake." We saw quick clips of both. "The judges continued to love both you and comment on your growth as individual dancers. Did America agree with them?"

Of course they did. I thought to myself. There were three of us on stage and only one spot left in the bottom. They would save the last spot for when there were only two dancers on stage to build the tension. Alice was a judge's favorite and a great dancer, now that she had a better partner I didn't see her falling again until higher in the competition. If she did, Mary would probably have a fit.

"Yes they did." Cat said to a round of cheers. "Alice you are safe this week."

Alice gave both me and Tanya quick hugs and wished us luck before rushing off stage to stand with the others.

"Bella," Cat said turning her evil smile on me. She already knew, I was convinced she did, the cards were for show. I just wanted her to say it already. "Last night you danced a beautiful Viennese Waltz and then a very emotional Sonya Tayeh Contemporary piece that moved several people to tears. Nigel said that you and your partner Edward continue to impress him and over all your comments were positive." She smiled to the camera. "But did America agree with you? We'll find out after we talk to Tanya."

I wanted to roll my eyes but managed just to look a little disappointed. Cat turned and started talking to Tanya. Cat reviewed both of Tanya and James dances with clips and commented on what the judges thought of them. It might be that I was just nervous being up next to Tanya but I had the feeling Cat was trying to draw out how long this took because the show needed to fill space because the boys weren't dancing anymore. Maybe it was just me.

"Alright girls." Cat said once Tanya was done. "One of you is safe and will be automatically moving into next week and one of you will be joining Angela and Victoria in the bottom three."

She popped open her envelope and glanced at the name, then she paused like she always does, and read the name. "Bella you are safe, which means this week Tanya you have fallen into the bottom and will have to dance for your life with the other girls."

I felt like jumping out of my skin. I was so relived to finally know and ecstatic that I was safe again this week. Maybe I could go the whole show without falling into the bottom? How cool would that be? I gave Tanya a quick hug, which was mildly uncomfortable, but she didn't have any choice to hug me back under the cameras. I wished her luck, because it was polite, and secretly hoped that Angela would crush her under her high-heels. What? So I wasn't her biggest fan. Tanya and I had been taking noticeable masseurs to avoid each other in the house, as much as we could, this past week and I was completely ok with continuing that. Even better would be if she just went home.

I nearly skipped off stage and got my hugs from everyone, sharing congratulations that we were all safe for next week and taking my first real breath since Cat had called me out on stage. I moved into Edward's side and he hooked his arm around my waist as we listened to Cat talk while the other girls got ready for their solos back stage.

Nigel talked about his Dizzy Feet dance organization to fill up the last few minutes before a commercial break and then Cat announced that when we came back Angela would be up first with her solo. As the lights came back up Cat smiled from her spot on the side of the stage and introduced Angela again.

Angela had changed into a white dress with black spots and was dancing to "I'm so excited" I thought the song was very fitting and her dazzling smile filled the stage with her quirky show dancing. We were all so ecstatic to be here doing what we love and none of us could really hide it, as cheesy as that was. It was quick passed and high energy. Angela wasn't a technical dancer. She'd only had two or three years of formal dance lessons. Most of her practice came from small stage productions she'd been in. I'd heard her sing in the lounge a few times and had a feeling that she'd be any Broadway producers wet dream come true and I had already told her to send me tickets to her first _big scale_ production.

Victoria danced to a shortened version of the song "Black Bird" in a little black baby doll dress. I clapped with the others as she finished her song and then Cat called Tanya out to do her solo. Tanya was a great dancer, part of me wished I didn't have to say that but, she was. She'd chosen to dance to a song with no words which was always risky. I didn't know what it was but her floor length dress made me think it was probably something she'd used in a Fox Trot or maybe in a fast passed Waltz. It was a pretty song and showed off her perfect control. I clapped when she was done and fidgeted as the cameras dimed for the last break.

Alice moved over to my side and I held onto her hand. All of the dancers had clustered together in our little waiting spot and it was the first time I'd noticed how much extra space there was down here now. We'd already lost six people and it was hard to believe that this show had only started three weeks ago. It felt like it had been so much longer then that and at the same time had taken no time at all.

"Who do you think will go home?" Alice asked, nodding to the stage.

Cat was standing on stage and we watched as Angela and Victoria came back out to line up with Tanya next to her. The judges had all gone back stage to pick who would go home and the count down said we had just over a minute before the cameras would come back on.

"I don't know Alice, I hope it's not Angela."

"Me too" She said "I like Angela. I just don't know if she's as strong a technical as the other two are."

"I think Nigel likes her." Edward added, "He was excited to get two Broadway dancers on the show in the first place."

I nodded, "Yeah but that's just it, if she goes home we've still got Ben."

They both nodded along and we fell silent with the rest of the dancers as the lights came back up and Cat turned her smile to the crowd. The audience roared and the three dancers in trouble all looked like they might be sick.

"It's time America," Cat said into her mic. "Which two girls will be safe and dance again next week and which one will our judges send home?"

She turned to Nigel who leaned forward to talk into his mic. "Well Cat, this was a very difficult week for us to decide and to be perfectly honest we are still split." He paused. "Tanya would you step forward please?"

Tanya stepped forward. "Tanya you were the one person we all agreed on. We think you have much more to show us and we can't wait to see you dance again next week."

Tanya gave the other two girls quick hugs and then speed down the stairs to join the rest of us. Emmett swept her into a hug and then she was passed down the line so the rest of us could congratulate her. I said a quick good job because it was polite and moved closes to Alice when she tossed herself at Edward.

I grumbled a bit under my breath and Alice chuckled at me. "Just because their friends doesn't mean you have to like her." She reminded me.

I didn't, but I kept my mouth shut. Nigel had moved on to Angela and Victoria. The judges had been spilt two to one but on this show majority ruled.

"I'm sorry Angela." Nigel said. "But, we will not be seeing you next week."

"Dang it." Alice mumbled next to me.

Ben looked devastated, and all of the dancers looked disappointed. We knew someone had to go each week, but it never got any easier to send a friend home, even more so when that someone was as sweet as Angela. Victoria came off stage and we all gave her our congratulations while Cat rapped up the show and as the ending theme song came on we rushed the stage to get once last change to talk to her.

I balled when it was my turn for a hug. Angela had been my roommate during the hardest part of the show and I was going to miss her deeply.

"Stop that Bella." She yelled at my and she wrapped her arms around my neck. "You're going to make me cry too."

She cried, I cried, then Jake grabbed my hand and spun me in a circle and we laughed. Once the cameras were off the audience was let out and I went backstage with the others to clean up our costumes. Once we got back to the studio I helped Angela pack her things and made her promise three times that she would look me up when I got back to Arizona after the show.

"I will Bella, I promise. We gathered in the lobby and passed Angela down the line to get one last hug from everyone. A taxi was waiting out front to take her to the airport. Crew members had already packed James's things up and brought them to him at the hospital. He would be getting moved tomorrow back to his hometown before undergoing the surgery he would need to fix the tendon in his knee.

"Bye Angela." Erik called jumping up and down on the sidewalk in front of the studio as we all waved goodbye. We watched until her taxi turned the corner and filed back into the studio to rest up for tomorrow.

* * *

~Darkrose

I hope you all enjoyed it and you'll be happy to know I've already got most of the next chapter written.

Did anyone else knotice that after I had James get hurt all of the dancers on the real show started getting hurt...I hope I didn't jinx them. I'm sad Kent didn't win, this just adds more prouf to the fact that my fav's never win. :(


	44. The Hat

Wow, it's been awhile. I'm sorry for that. If you stayed with me this long I appreciate it and hope you continue to hold out for the rest of this story because I do know who's going to win and how everyone's going to get to the end. I just have to sit down and get the creative juices flowing to finish writing it all down. Lots of love, your all wonderful, Darkrose.

Chapter- 44

* * *

"The Hat"

Pov-Bella

"So," Edward started as he waited for me to finish brushing out my hair. "Do you think your mom liked me?"

I scoffed at him as I put my brush back in the bathroom and started digging through my clothes. I needed to do my laundry again. "I'm pretty sure you had all of them wrapped around your little fingers." I told him honestly. "Erika thought you were very charming. She told me I'm supposed to sweat talk you into moving to Arizona and joining our school."

He chuckled, "Arizona wouldn't be so bad. I bet you don't get much rain there."

"Two extremes, no rain for months and everything dries up, or so much rain at once that things flood." I agreed. "It was just a little lunch."

Edward had joined my Mom, Ericka, Summer and I for lunch yesterday on our day off after the last show before they took a flight back home. We'd gone to a small café that served good soup and chatted the morning away.

"Yeah," He agreed "So what, you made a great first impression on my parents. I didn't want to make myself look stupid."

I stopped in front of him, stood on my toes and gave him a quick kiss. "You couldn't make yourself look stupid if you tried."

"Oh yes I could." He disagreed. Then he reached into my closet and pulled out a blue tank top with crossed straps that I'd bypassed earlier. "Wear this one. It makes your eyes stand out."

"There's a hole in the side." I said sticking my finger in the tinny hole. I must have rubbed against something the last time I'd worn it.

"Who's going to see you in it other then the other dancers?" He asked. "I don't think any of them will care, if they even notice."

I tossed my pajama top onto the bed and pulled the shirt over my head. Edward fixed one of the straps for me and then stuck his finger in the hole. "See not so bad." He poked me in the ribs and I giggled.

"Stop that."

He smiled at me. "Ticklish?" He asked.

"No I'm not" I said sharply, "Don't even think about it."

He smirked again, that stupid/sexy little thing he could do were only one side of his mouth moved. "I'm thinking about it." He said.

He jumped at me and I ducked under his arm. "Edward, don't."

I grabbed my shoes and bolted out the door with Edward hot on my tail. Alice was in the hall with Leah and they laughed as we ran past them and cheered Edward on. I was going to get them later for that.

He caught me in the stairwell and pinned me against the wall. "No" I shrieked as he started tickling me. "That's not fair. "I complained gasping for breath, "You're not ticklish, there's no way for me to retaliate."

"Yes he is."

Edward jumped and I shrieked again as Emmett and Jasper came into the stairwell and laughed at us.

"I am not." Edward said quickly.

"Yes he is." Emmett repeated smiling at me. "But for my own enjoyment I'm not going to tell you where so don't even think about asking me Bells."

I shut my mouth and scowled at him, "Oh come on Emmett. Help me out here."

"I am helping you." He said with an evil chuckle. "Now you've got to find it for yourself."

"That's just cruel." I complained.

"It's ingenious." Jasper commented. Emmett beamed at him proudly.

"What is?" Alice asked as she and Leah pushed into the stairwell with us. She settled easily into Jaspers side and he hooked an arm around her shoulders.

"Emmett's found another way to torment our little Bella and young Edward." He explained.

"The words 'Emmett' and 'ingenious' can't be used in the same sentence." Edward mocked, "It's not possible in the English language."

"Oh bring it on little bro." Emmett said flexing his arms. "I could bench press you and your fancy-pants education."

"Ok you two knock it off." Leah said, putting her hands on her hips. "We should get down to the lounge so we can eat before Cat shows up."

We all agreed and followed her down to get breakfast. Cat had informed us last night that we wouldn't be getting a lot of free time this week. She said we were going to need every hour we got and that little hint had most of the dancers on edge.

Everyone had finished eating by the time Cat came to get us from the lounge. She was all dressed up and accompanied by a team of camera men for the morning's shoot. "Come on, everyone" She said waving us to follow her. "We've got to shoot you drawing this week's styles down on the stage."

Everyone got up and started following after Cat. "Dang it." I said. I glanced up at Edward as we left last. "Do you think she'd notice if I ran up stairs quick?"

"For what?" He asked.

"There's a hole in my shirt, remember?"

He rolled his eyes. "A tinny hole in one of you work-out shirts. You've been hanging out with Alice too much. She's a bad influence on you."

I shrugged. "Yeah probably but I like her anyways."

"What style do you think we'll get this time?"

"Who knows."

Cat lined everyone up on the stage and then she brought out her demon black hat. The cameras were rolling and she gave us the run down about stepping forward one at a time to learn what styles our pairs would be doing this week. The tension was thick around the dancers and we waited for Cat to call someone forward.

"Bella," She said. "Why don't you come pick first?"

I came up and stuck my hand in the hat fishing around for one of the cards. Oh please don't be Ballet. I said in my head and locked my fingers around a card. I pulled it out and unfolded the piece of paper.

"What's it say?" Alice asked when I didn't read it out loud right away.

I blinked at the word thinking that I must have forgotten how to read overnight.

"What did we get?" Edward asked.

I held up the paper so everyone could see. "I got Emmett."

Shock ran around the room and Cat started clapping her hands. "That's right everyone, with James injury we decided to mix up the pairs early this season. Ladies I want you all to come line up and draw your new partners."

Cat grabbed my arm and steered me to where Emmett was waiting off to the side and I locked eyes with Edward across the stage. He shrugged, not sure what to make of this new twist. I gave him a little pinky wave then gave Emmett a hug.

"This is gunna be great Bella." He said hooking his arm easily over my shoulder. "Granted I'm a bit thrown right now. It'll be odd not dancing with Leah anymore."

Tanya was next and I crossed my fingers that she wouldn't get Edward. She opened the card and scowled at it. When she held it up, I watched Ben's face fall. Poor guy was going to get eaten alive. Leah pulled Eric and then Rosalie pulled Edward's name.

Victoria and Alice were last and Cat took a moment to talk to the camera some more.

"Ok girls there's only two boys left. Victoria why don't you go next?"

Victoria grabbed a card out of the hat and held it out to the camera . "Jake"

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at the smile on Alice's face. She didn't even bother to grab the last card before skipping off to Jasper's side and hooking her arm through his. "I found my partner." She said.

Cat got out another hat and let each of the boys pull a card. Each of the cards had a number on it. Emmett's card had a 3 on it.

"The number on your card corresponds to a studio number up stairs." Cat explained. "You'll find your choreographers inside them. Good luck everyone."

I climbed the stairs with Emmett and glanced over my shoulder at Edward. He didn't see me, he was talking to Rosalie about something. Emmett opened the door and the first three pairs went onto the third floor. Edward's studio was on the fourth floor.

"Who do you think it is?" Emmett asked as we stopped outside the door to studio three.

I shrugged. "I don't know." I said.

"Hey," He said. "I know you're kind of sweet on my brother but you're paying attention right?" He asked.

I nodded. "Oh course."

"Good." He said. "I just wanted to make sure. Let's see if we can score higher than Him and Rosalie."

I smirked. "Sounds like a good plan."

"It won't matter if you score higher then Edward."

I turned around as another voice cut into our conversation to find Jasper and Alice standing in front of the studio next to ours, watching us.

"And why won't it matter?" Emmett asked.

She smirked. "Because Jasper and I are still going to kick all of your asses."

"In your dreams Shorty." Emmett shot back.

"You're going to have to get better insults." Alice said. "I'm only 5'1 Emmett, people have been calling me short since the second grade."

"Yeah, but I don't really mean it as an insult." Emmett said. "It's more a term of brotherly endearment said in teasing form of affection."

I blinked at him, surprised at the string of long words.

"What?" He asked.

I smirked at him. "That was cute."

He shrugged and lowered his lips to my ear. "I'm very cute, but we still have to crush the midget ok?"

I nodded. "ok"

Emmett threw the door open and we both jumped inside.

"Tabitha!" Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo were waiting for us inside and I rushed to give them both a big hug. "It's so good to see you guys again."

"Bella!" Tabitha gave me a quick hug and then moved on to Emmett so Napoleon could hook an arm over my shoulder.

"I was hoping we'd get to see you again Bella." He said. "You too ready to work hard?"

"Of course." Cheered Emmett, "We need to beat my brother and the little midget this week, so we've got to haul majorly."

Tabitha laughed. "I'm so glad we finally get the chance to work with you Emmett." She said. "You're going to love this number."

"I am the Hip-hop guy around here." He said with a smirk.

I grimaced remembering my disastrous last attempt at Hip-hop. I'd finally been allowed to take off my brace as long as I still wore it at night to protected my hand. "I'll try not to punch you in the face." I said solemnly.

They all chuckled at me and Emmett assured us all that he had a hard head and could take a hit or two.

"Hopefully she won't hit you at all." Napoleon said. "This week you're going to be doing a flirty love hip-hop dance. No fighting."

"What song?" Emmett asked.

Napoleon left my side and hit the play button so we could hear our music selection. Emmett rolled his eyes and I shot him a stupid grin. "Perfect"

"I hate Jessie McCartney." He said.

"But this song is so catchy." I said as Jessie McCartney and T-pains song "Body Language" played around the room.

"And we have awesome choreography to go with it." Tabitha promised. Then she ordered us to stretch and get ready because she was going to eat us alive.

By lunch my legs hurt and I'd sweated through my shirt to the point where I didn't even both to put it back on as Emmett and I slugged our way down stairs. The dance was lots of fun and it was going to be great by next Wednesday's show.

While we'd worked Napoleon had told us about the inspiration behind it. Emmett would be playing the leader of a local gang and I would be playing the local "Good girl." Emmett would fall for me and proceed to corrupt me with his "Bad boy" way. Apparently I would start the dance in a conservative outfit and later reveal something more fun under it, but I wouldn't get to see it until our fitting tomorrow.

Emmett still hadn't warmed up to the song but he was looking forward to rubbing it in Edward's face that he was getting to do a love song with me.

"But, Edward and I have already done a couple of love songs." I reminded him. "Actually most of our songs have been about finding love, losing love, saving love or having sex."

Emmett chuckled. "And then there was the time you committed suicide."

"And that one." I agreed.

We got our food and sat down with Alice and Jasper.

"You two look beat." Jasper said.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Alice added. "Your new dance to hard for you?"

"You wish." Emmett said.

The door opened up and Rose and Edward came into the lounge. Neither one of them looked to happy as they grabbed sandwiches and joined us.

"What's up?" Emmett asked.

"Sorry." Edward mumbled busying himself with pouring us both water.

Rose smiled and waved him off. "Edward can't do one of the lifts in our dance." Rose explained. "It's not that big a deal."

"I dropped you." Edward said. "Twelve times."

She smiled. "The shoes they've got me wearing make me taller than him."

"Change the lift." Alice said at the same time Jasper said "Change the shoes."

"We'll figure it out." Rose said.

Leah, her partner this week, Erik, and Jake came in a few moments later. Leah was using her crutches now and Jake got her food while Erik helped her prop her foot up and gave her the ice pack he was holding.

"How's the digit holding up?" Emmett asked.

Leah groaned and started to unwrap it. "Hurts like hell." She said. Once the bandage was off she leaned back so we could all see it. Her ankle was red and dotted with bruises. Leah poked it and hissed. "Shit"

"Stop that" Jake said sitting down next to her and passing her a plate of food. "Doc said to unwrap it and ice it threw lunch."

"You'd never know it hurt this bad in rehearsal." Erik said sitting down with the rest of us. "She's amazing. I don't think I could do half of the things she's doing on that ankle."

Leah rolled her eyes and took a big snap out of her sandwich. "They're making the choreography very easy so I don't have to push myself."

"The floor works cool" Erik said.

Leah rolled her eyes. "It's irritating as hell. There's only one lift in the whole dammed thing."

"Well that probably for the better right?" I asked. "You don't want to risk hurting it more. This way it won't interfere with your dance."

She shrugged again. "I guess."

Lunch passed quickly and the second half of rehearsal moved slowly. I ached all over when it was done and dragged myself into the shower still in my sports bra and spandex. I striped, washed my hair, and took time to let my mussels relax. Once the hot water was gone I wrapped myself in a robe and dragged my wet clothes along with my other dirty clothes to the wash room and dumped them all into one of the washers.

"Great minds think alike."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Edward, hair wet and in a pair of gray sweats, carrying his dirty clothes.

I smiled. "How'd the rest of your rehearsal go?" I asked.

He dumped his clothes into the washer next to mine and shrugged. "Alright I guess, we didn't get very far but we finally got that lift down."

"They change the shoes?" I asked.

He nodded. "Lower shoes and we modified the lift a bit so it's slower, but a little more showy. I don't have trouble getting her into the air it was setting her down with knocking her over, I couldn't manage."

We swung by my room so I could pull on a clean set of underwear, a new tank-top and a pair of sweats then headed down to dinner. The producers had ordered us pizza and I helped myself to two large, greasy slices of cheese before we joined the others. Ben and Erik were locked in a game of chess and it took an hour and a half before the pizza was gone and Erik managed to take Ben's king.

Victoria never spoke to me but at least she wasn't shooting me death glares anymore. James called on the lounge phone and we all got the chance to talk to him. He was going into surgery tomorrow and wished us all luck. He apologized a hundred times to Leah and then wished us all good luck.

"Alright" Leah said. "I'm going to bed."

I stood up and helped her stand up and get her crutches.

"I'll help you get to your room." Alice offered.

"Bed sounds like a good idea." Tanya agreed heading out of the room behind them.

Everyone got up and tossed their plates out, gathering their things and making their way off towards the staircase. Edwards and I climbed the stairs and I waved him up as I stopped on the girl's floor. I changed into my pajamas and grabbed my pillow, double-checking that the hallway was empty before scuttling to the stairs and climbing to the boy's floor.

The hallway was empty so I walked on my toes and knocked lightly on Edward's door. The door to the stair well creaked and I jumped, waiting for someone to come out and bust me in the hallway. Edward opened his door and smiled.

"What's wrong he asked?"

I shrugged, moving past him and closing the door behind me. "I thought I heard something on the staircase."

"I didn't see anyone."

"It was probably one of the girls down stairs."

He took the pillow and tossed it on the bed. "Man I'm beat."

I flipped of the main light and sat on the bed while he gathered his pajamas. "How was working with Rose this week?"

He stepped into the bathroom but left the door open so we could talk. "It was alright. She's really good. We just don't seem to sync the way you and I do."

He came back into the room and crawled across to his side. I kissed him on the cheek and laid back. "I missed you too."

He chuckled. "How was working with Emmett?"

"Your brothers a beast." I said. "It was like working with the energizer bunny. I know he was tiered, but he didn't slow down once."

He set his alarm and turned off the bedside lamp. "Endurance is probably one of Emmett greatest dancing strengths. He's always been able to go for hours. However, I'm not sure if that will last much longer. I don't think he's been getting enough sleep."

"That makes two of us." I snuggled into his side and smiled when he rested his check against my head. "Good night Bella."

* * *

~Darkrose

Finally another chapter done. I've been wanting to do this song for awhile. Is everyone watching the newest season of SYTYCD! I know I am. I'm really liking Sasha so far. I made a promise at the beginning of this story not to stop until I was done and I intend to keep my word. Special thanks to "Steph" for all of her review, they gave me the push I needed to finish this chapter. Now I'm excited for the next one!


	45. Nuthing to Lose

Thank you for all of your kind words I'm at over 1000 reviews! (Steph you make me smile) This chapter was written and inspired by a song I've always known I would use in this scene. I hope you love it as much as I do. Also in honor of the last, and hopefully best, "Harry Potter movie!" I will hide 3 quotes from AVPM in this chapter. 10 points to whoever can find them first. Just post them in your review and I'll let you know if you've won. Please make sure to "long in" so I can message you. And for those of you who were mad I split Bella and Edward up, I had to that's how the show works. If they both make it to the end they'll get to dance together again. But who knows what will happen? ; )

Chapter 45: Nothing to lose

* * *

POV: Bella

**Sunday:**

"Bella dear hold still or I'll stab you with this pin."

I quit fidgeting. "Sorry Max."

She finished putting a few pins in my pants and asked me to spin in a slow circle. I loved the costume for my Hip-hop dance with Emmett. Right now Max had me in a bright orange sports bra with a black fishnet top over it and tinny black shorts which she was adding a riffed orange skirt to the back of. I had on orange and black striped thigh high socks and black, lace up the side boots. I'd be wearing a boring, conservative skirt and jacket over them until Emmett took them off.

"These shorts are Awesome Max." I said, twirling around so the little skirt would move.

Max smiled. "Of course they are, I made them. Now let's see how it looks under the longer skirt. While Max helped me shimmy into a longer gray skirt, Alice came in and waved at us.

"Good morning Max, hey Bella."

"Morning dear." Max said pointing to another of the fitting platforms. "Hop up and strip, I've got your outfit mostly done."

"Hey Max," A man's voice, I didn't know, called from the hallway. "We need you to come look at Emmett's pants. They don't fit right."

"It's not my fault!" Emmett called, from the boys fitting room. "

"Maybe you should get a smaller butt!" Alice called.

"My butt is awesome and you know it!" Emmett shouted back at her and we both started laughing.

Max tied my second skirt and told me not to move, then she tossed a pile of clothes at Alice and told her to chance before slipping out of the girls fitting room.

"What's your costume?" I asked as Alice started to shimmy into a pair of tiny jean shorts.

She smiled at me. "We're doing a really fast jive number. It's a country song so we're dressing up like we're at a hoedown," She changed into a bright blue sports bra and pulled on a tiny plaid top that tied just below her boobs and left her midriff open. Then she added a wide red belt and clipped red overalls onto the shorts, snapping them in place over her shoulders. She looked like a southern, line dancing, playboy bunny. She looked down at her 'barely there' outfit and grinned at me. "A very sexy hoedown."

"I like it." I said as she spun so I could see it all togeather.

"Thanks," She looked me over in my sexy top with the ugly gray skirt covering up the black shorts. "What are you wearing?"

I pulled up the long skirt so she could see the shorts. "It's a hip-hop number, Emmett's going to help me take the top layer off during the dance."

"Aww," She said nodding. "That's makes more sense."

I pointed to a pile of gray cloth still sitting on the counter. "It's got an ugly jacket too go with it."

"Is Emmett playing the bad boy?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yep and he seduces the good girl right out of her prissy upper-class home."

We laughed as Max came in calling more instructions over her shoulder. "Just scrap them and start over!" She handed me the gray jacket and went to look at Alice.

"Alice honey, you are always the easiest to fit." She said walking around and tugging on the top a bit so it wasn't wrinkled. "I'd say you're done."

She helped me button the gray top and showed me how it would hold together until Emmett pulled it off. "As long as you don't pull on it early those buttons will hold. Tell Emmett not to practice with it until your dance because most likely some of those buttons will pop off on the stage. Don't slip on them."

"Can we go see the boys?" Alice asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, Jasper's done, but Emmett doesn't have any pants yet, were starting over on them."

Max led us out and we found Jasper in the center room with a few of Max's helps. He was wearing simple blue jeans that hung low on his hips and a plan white shirt. Alice smirked. "I knew they'd put you in a white shirt."

He chuckled. "They almost had too with our song."

"Why?" I asked, but neither one would tell me saying that I would have to wait until the dress rehearsal to see their number. I was going to complain some more when Emmett walked in looking very gangster on top with a baggy shirt and a homeboy hat, and very Emmett on bottom with rubber ducky boxers. The room was silent for a beat and then everyone burst into giggles and doubled over clutching their sides. While we were laughing, I watched Alice snap a photo with her phone, but didn't say anything. Maybe she would give me a copy of that shot.

"Yeah Yeah," Emmett scowled. "Laugh it up."

Jasper regained himself first and patted me on the arm. "Good luck this week Bella."

"What's that supposed to imply?" Emmett asked then he caught a look at Alice and I and smiled. "I like the tiny shorts."

Jasper smirked at Alice. "She's pretty hot alright." He agreed and Alice blushed.

"Hot?" Emmett said. "More like super mega foxy awesome hot."

We talked for a bit more and then Max came back to shoo us all back into our fitting rooms. She finished pinning my skirt and then sent Alice and I on our way. Emmett had to stay behind and get refitted for his pants.

**Monday: **

I rolled back on my heels and I laid 'spread eagle' on the floor. I was hot, sore and sweaty. I heard a groan and then Emmett plopped down next to me.

"I could use a shower." He said.

I grinned to myself not wanting to say aloud that he did stink a bit. I was sure I didn't smell to much better. So I just added. "And a nap."

"Come on you two," Tabitha said, slapping me on the leg. "Up up, you're both really starting to get it." I held up my hand and Emmett pulled me to my feet once he was standing and we threw ourselves back into the work.

After lunch we were both given time to shower and change before our camera guy, Roger, came to us for this week's interviews. He sat us down in one of the empty studios and turned his camera on us.

"So Bella," He said. "What's it been like working with Emmett this week?"

I glanced at Emmett and he smirked at me. "It's been just awful." I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm. "I can't stand him."

Emmett faked being hurt. "Ouch and after all I've done for you." We laughed and I leaned into Emmett as I turned back to the camera. "But really, it's been awesome." I told it. "Emmett's become like my big brother. We've been friends since Vegas week and it's nice to get the chance to dance with him."

Then Roger to turned Emmett and asked him. "Is there anything America should know about Bella that we don't already? Any secrets?"

Emmett smirked at me and I was waiting for the worst. What he said was embarrassing, but I was willing to take anything over my hidden relationship with Edward. I should have known he wouldn't rat us out.

"Bella is a klutz." Emmett said. "She's one of the most graceful dancers I know but walking on flat ground she suddenly has no balance. And she gets lost easily. It took her probably two weeks to learn the layout of this building." He smiled at me. "Didn't you just get turned around a few nights ago and wind up down on the first floor?"

I nodded. "Yes, there are a ton of side staircases here. I keep expecting to run into a hidden swimming pool."

"That would be so awesome!" Emmett agreed.

"What about you Bella?" Roger asked turning towards me. "Anything we should know about Emmett?"

Emmett's young relationship with Rose was very privet. Nothing could have made me tell America about it, since I didn't know too much anyway. I also decided to leave out his past with flower named girls and I couldn't think of anything else. "There's not much hidden about Emmett." I told him honesty. "He wears his heart on his sleeve, he's a great guy, and he's not afraid to say whatever he's thinking. He's a straight forward person and what you see is always what you're going to get. He does like to have chocolate milk with his breakfast though." I added as an afterthought and Emmett rolled his eyes at me.

"Oooo alert the authorities."

Roger asked a few more questions. He wanted to know about the dance and then he followed us back into rehearsal and talked to Nat and Tab. He filmed us working on the ending and got a good shot of me miss stepping and falling on my butt as I tripped over Emmett's feet.

We joined the others down stairs for dinner and everyone was talking happily about tomorrow's dress rehearsal and their costumes. I slid into my seat next to Edward and listened in as Rose talked about the dress she would be wearing.

Rose and Edward were doing a smooth waltz and Rose's dress was going to be a floor length, cream, satin masterpiece. She was excited to wear it but worried because they were having to re-hem it, to fit her shorter shoes, so she wouldn't step on it while she danced. "If they can't get it finished there's a second dress in my size that's pale yellow, but the cream one is so much prettier."

Emmett and I went straight back to work after eating. The choreographers all left before diner so we just work by ourselves until we were to tiered to stand right and then we walked together to the boy's floor. He knocked smartly on Edward's door and when Edward opened it he waved in my direction and smirked. "Brought you a present."

I hit him in the arm on my way in and then crashed face first onto Edward's bed. I heard Edward thank his brother for the gift and then they talked a bit before the door clicked shut. Edward sat me up and passed me one of his t-shirts. "Go take a hot shower, you'll feel better afterwards. I have shampoo on the top shelf."

I blushed fiercely and Edward pushed me towards his bathroom. "Lock the door if you're nervous."

I wasn't nervous, I knew Edward would never do anything I didn't want him too. I just wasn't sure that I _didn't_ want him to come with me. I slipped into the bathroom, left the door unlocked, and laid out his shirt and a towel on the counter. I striped and tossed my clothes on the floor, taking my time to enjoy the warm water and the smell of Edward's shampoo. I got out, mildly disappointed that Edward hadn't come in and pulled his shirt over my head before brushing out my hair. I pulled my underwear back on but decided to forgo my dance pants and re-entered the main bedroom.

Edward was in a pair of sweat pants and I caught the worried look on his face before it turned into a smirk as he saw me in my underwear and his shirt. His eyes darkened as he scooted over and I sat down on the edge of the bed.

"What's wrong?"

He glanced up from where his eyes had been watching my thighs and sighed. "Emmett wanted to talk to me." He said. "So went over to his room while you were in the shower." He ran a hand threw his hair messing it up even more. "Tanya saw you come up here last night."

My breath caught in my throat. "How?"

"That noise you heard on the staircase." He said. "At least that's what I'm thinking. She talked to Emmett, asked him to talk to me about staying away from you."

I scowled at the wall and crossed my arms over my chest. "It's none of her business. She treats you like her personal privet property, always giving me dirty looks and stuff."

Edward took my hand. "Hey now, come on." He tugged me closer and I moved into my spot next to him. "I know that," He said. "I told Emmett to bugger off and he just laughed and said he'd already told Tanya I'd say that." His finger ran threw a lock of wet hair that was on my shoulder and he lifted it to his nose.

"I really love the fact that you smell like me right now," He said kissing my shoulder and inhaling into my neck. "and you in this shirt is really sexy."

I shivered as his lips brushed against my neck and brushed some of his hair out of his face so I could look at him. "What are we going to do about Tanya?" I asked. "She hates me Edward. You heard what she said about me last week on the show. Another interview like that and America will hate me or think I'm some kind of slut."

"I'll talk to her again." He said. "You're not a slut. Don't worry about it for now."

"How am I supposed to not worry about it?" I asked. "She's going to tear me apart and I feel bad about driving a wedge between you and your friend."

I shivered again as his lips brushed along my jaw. "You could let me distract you." He said. "I know I'm personally having trouble thinking about anything except that fact that you are in my shirt, on my bed, and you look really hot with your hair all wet.

I blushed, "Don't say things like that, it's embarrassing."

"But it's true," He said leaning across me to turn out the bedside lap. "You're very beautiful Bella." He said. "I've always thought that."

Then his lips were on mine and every thought I had about Tanya and the show melted away, as my whole body heated up. All I could focus on was him, his smell and his soft lips. When we broke apart to breath he would run small kissed up my jaw or down my neck. His hands, strong on my waist, or gentle as his fingers tangled in my hair. In a moment of bravery, I rolled over and straddled him, running my own line of kisses up from his shoulder back to his mouth.

Edward and I had never gone farther than this before, and I'd never gone this far with another man before, but I knew that I was completely unafraid of Edward. I knew he wouldn't push us to far, too fast, and knew I could trust him if we did. I didn't even get embarrassed when one of his hands dropped down to my butt and he kept it there while we continued to kiss, his fingers digging in as I nipped at his lower lip.

We both jumped a bit when his watch beeped from the bedside table signaling that it was one in the morning and even my racing heart couldn't overcome the wear of the day as I yawned mid-kiss a minute later. Edward rolled us over and tucked me into him as he pulled the sheet up over our legs.

He placed a few more light kisses on my shoulder and I smiled to myself as he yawned into my hair. "Good night Edward."

He didn't respond out loud but he snuggled into my back and tightened his grip on me. I relaxed completely, falling asleep surrounded by the warmth of Edward's body and the smell of his shampoo.

**Tuesday:**

When Edward and I entered the lounge the next morning we walked in on Erik, Jake and Emmett having a heated discussion about something. The rest of the room was laughing and watching while everyone ate.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Emmett said, waving Erik off with his fork.

"Yeah," Jake agreed. "You never tell a girl you like her, it just makes you look like an idiot."

"I didn't say that," Emmett said. "Direct approach it always the best bet. If you don't tell her how is she supposed to know?"

Edward and I got our plats and sat down at the table with everyone else.

"Girls are good at all of that 'reading between the lines' stuff." Erik said. "As long as you hold her hand or something she's going to know you like her."

"That's bogus." Emmett said. "Just tell her you love her straight to her face. Then there's no way to miss understand anything."

"Yeah you could be faking it if all you do is hold her hand." Ben added.

"It takes balls to say it right to her face. Proves your a real man." Emmett said, ending his argument.

I turned to Alice and raised an eyebrow. "What are they talking about?"

She passed Edward and I the syrup for our waffles and shook her head. "They're debating the best way to handle women."

"Why don't you just ask them?" Edward suggested pouring out orange juice for us both. "There are six sitting right in this room."

"Brilliant," Jake turned to Leah who was sitting closest to him. "What do girls like more?" He asked. "The straight forward approach, or all of that mysterious 'she'll know what I mean without words' crap?"

"Oh no," Leah shook her head. "You're not dragging me into this, and I can't speak for all women." She waved across the table at me and Alice. "We're not all the same you know? Everyone's going to like something different."

"I like the direct approach."

Heads turned as Rose spoke up for the first time since Edward and I had come in. She shrugged as everyone stared at her. "But, that's just me." She turned her attention back to the paper in her lap and the fruit on her plate.

"I'm all for the silent road." Alice said. "It's always nice to hear that your loved, but if you know your with the right person I don't think you always need words to convey your feelings for each other. It takes a deeper bond to trust that person completely without always having to confirm your feelings."

Conversation started jumping after that and I let myself fall in and out as I ate, enjoying my waffles and the fact that Edward was holding my hand under the table rubbing little circles into the back of my fingers. I caught Tanya shooting me dirty looks once, but I just smiled at her and stole a strawberry off Edward's plate. There wasn't anything I could do about Tanya, Edward would talk to her and I was going to do my best to ignore her, while rubbing it in her face.

After breakfast, everyone scattered to make sure all of their costume pieces were packed up, and they had everything they would need for today's dress rehearsal. Emmett's pants had come out great and I giggled along with Rose had he shook his butt at us, while Max was making sure they fit right.

"Yah look good in leather boy," Max commented. "But if you don't hold still I'm going to jab you with this pin."

Once we were all loaded into the bus the door swung shut and we pulled away from the curb. I sat with Edward on the bus while Alice played with my hair from the seat across the aisle. We pulled up to the, now familiar studio, and helped to unload all of our things.

Emmett and I took one of the small rooms upstairs and started warming up. We played our music softly over the speakers, but we spent most of our time just working on the lifts to make sure we could do them seamlessly. I didn't have much to worry about. Emmett was super strong and he tossed me around like some kind of doll.

Run through started right after lunch. Emmett and I would be going fourth. Jake and Victoria were starting the night off with a fun spirited cha-cha and would be followed by Edward and Rose's much slower waltz. I felt jealous in spite of myself wishing I could be the one to dance with him. The waltz was slow and graceful, but it wasn't a very exciting routine. Leah and Erik followed them up with a sassy little Jazz number and then Emmett and I took the stage.

I could hear the others laugh as the music started and Emmett strutted around the front of the stage like a gangster but I forced myself to ignore them as I started my own, much slower set behind him. The dance went smooth, the lifts were sold and Emmett didn't pull any of the buttons off when he helped my take off the gray jacket.

As the music ended, he scooped me up and spun us in a circle. "That was awesome Bells."

"You were great too Em."

The others clapped as we jumped back off the stage and took our seats to watch Alice and Jasper as they took to the stage. I'd been looking forward to seeing their number all week as Alice dropped hint after hint about how she and Jasper were going to break records with this Jive number.

Alice walked on stage in her overalls and tinny plaid shirt followed by Jasper in his low riser jeans and leather cowboy hat. Emmett, Jake and Erik all started wolf whistling until one of the stagehands ordered them to be quiet and the lights on stage dimed.

A single soft yellow light turned on, illuminating the pair of them as Alice bolted from her spot on stage left and ran right at Jasper. She reached him just as the music started. Lights burst to life all over the stage as Jasper, bent his knees, caught Alice and tossed her straight into the air above his head. The move utilized their height difference to the max. Alice easily got ten feet in the air and she spun like a firecracker with her arms and legs tucked in before plummeting back to the ground.

"_It was noon time, down time, break time,  
Summertime, Miller Time, anytime,  
She was looking pretty fine.  
A red light, green light, goin' all fired upside downtown,  
She was shaking me all around.  
I was tuned in, going nowhere, second wind,  
Jonesing, drooling, feeling good, if you would."_

Jasper snatched her back out of the air and she landed light on her feet as they started skipping across the stage, hand in hand, their feet flying to the quick passed song. Every now and then Jasper would hold out Alice's hand and she would spin fast before falling right back into place with him. As the chorus started Jasper pulled Alice to him and she locked her arms around his neck and her tiny legs around his waist.

"_Oh yeah, by the way she moves,  
She's got me rolling in dirt in a white t-shirt.  
Breaker Breaker 1-9 she's a big ol' flirt.  
By now she's got me pretty tied Up,  
Tied Down, anyway I choose,  
I got nothin' to lose."_

The song was fast and fun, as they spun and twisted across the stage, taking full advantage of all of the empty space. The dance shifted back and forth from classic jive moves to more traditional line dance steps and they made the transitions look easy.

"_Feelin like Flynn, I was,  
Looking for the win.  
Just trying everything, hey  
Baby, where you been?  
All my life I've been looking for, Someone like you,  
__Falling head over heels, Hey what can I do?"_

The fast passed foot work moved into some creative floor work and one flip in particular caught my eye as Jasper laid on his back with his knees bent and flipped Alice over his head when she laid on his folded legs. They meet again center stage and start to spin together again, Alice's short spiky hair fans around her face like a black halo.

"_Oh yeah, by the way she moves,  
She's got me rolling in dirt in a white t-shirt.  
Breaker Breaker 1-9 she's a big ol' flirt.  
By now she's got me pretty tied up,  
Tied down, anyway I choose,  
I got nothin' to lose."_

The words kept up their fast pace as Alice and Jasper fell into half time. Their movements slow and riveting as they held each other close. Alice leaned back and slowly raised her leg into the air, her arms thrown back over her head as she trusted Jasper not to drop her. Jasper wrapped his free arm around her raised thigh and lifted her up into the air. Alice hooked a leg over his shoulder. Her hands in his hair as he ran his hands over her back.

_"Now I'm in the fast lane going 98.  
By now I know she can, Smooth operate me.  
I know now she's no goody two shoes,  
But hey I got myself nothin' to lose."_

When she landed on her feet they were back to the songs original tempo, flying around the stage and showing off perfectly timed kicks and twirls. Jasper tossed Alice easily from lift to twist, showing off his strength and taking advantage of how tiny she was. Their choreographer was brilliant.

Edward leaned into my side after a nifty little lift, where Alice had hit a mid-air split and whispered. "I'm sure glad neither of us has to follow them. No one's going to be able to live up to this number." I nodded my agreement but said nothing, I couldn't take my eyes off the pair of them.

_"Oh yeah, by the way she moves,_  
_She's got me rolling in dirt in a white t-shirt._  
_Breaker Breaker 1-9 she's a big ol' flirt._  
_By now she's got me pretty tied Up,_  
_Tied Down, anyway I choose,_  
_I got nothin' to lose."_

As the song entered into its last verse they slowed down again. Their movements still controlled as they moved away from the flashy lifts into more emotional close holds, and tender caresses. I particularly loved a move where Alice had thrown up her leg along Jasper's chest and he'd grabbed onto it, helping her keep her balance. While her leg was still in the air he'd turned his head and placed a quick kiss against her ankle.

_"It was Noon time, down time, break time_  
_Summertime, Miller Time, any time_  
_She was looking pretty fine._  
_Feelin like Flynn I was looking for the win,_  
_Just trying anything, hey baby where you been?_  
_All my life I been looking for, Someone like you._  
_Falling head over heels, God what can I do?_  
_I got nothin' to lose, yeah!"_

They ended the song with another set of floor work, which ended with Alice rolling on top of Jasper as he held her up slightly with his hands around her waist. Alice leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose as the music faded to an end and the lights switched back to the stages normal white lights.

I started clapping along with everyone else as they got back to their feet and made their way off stage, both of them breathing hard as they fought to catch their breath. Jasper kept Alice's hand all the way back to their seats and didn't let go even as everyone started to congratulate them on the awesome number.

"That's going to be the one to beat tomorrow." Erik said.

"That first toss was so high." Jake said as he pantomimed Jasper throwing Alice above his head. "It was like Shorty sprouted wings or something."

"I'm so jealous." Rose said planting a quick kiss on Jasper's cheek. "I want to do a line dance."

Alice flashed a big smile over at Emmett. "Beat that." She challenged. "We're aiming to get the record for most votes in a single night."

Everyone chuckled at the challenge and from his seat in the row ahead of us Erik said. "Oooh, Alice you know Emmett and Leah hold the record right now for that Tango number."

She nodded. "Then he's going to have to bring it even harder this week."

Emmett smiled back at her easily and hooked an arm over my shoulders. "We can take you." He said looking at me. "Right Bells?" I nodded confidently. "Sure," Not in a million years could Emmett and I match the emotion or the fun in that song. Alice and Jasper were going to sweep tomorrows show easily.

* * *

~Darkrose

I forgot how much fun this was. : )

The song I used is called "Nuthing to lose" and its by: Josh Gracin


End file.
